
Class ., J"^"/" ^^ 

Book //; /^ 

Copyright 1!^^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



LONGMANS' ENGLISH CLASSICS 

EDITED BY 

ASHLEY H. THORNDIKE, Ph.D., L.H.D. 

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 



LORD MACAULAY 



ESSAY ON WARREN HASTINGS 



Eongmang' (EngUgJi Claggtcg 
MACAULAY'S 

Essay on Warren Hastings 



EDITED WITH NOTES AND AN INTRODUCTION 
BY 

SAMUEL M. TUCKER, Ph.D. 

Professor of English and Dean of the Florida State College for Women 




NEW YORK 

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 

LONDON, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA 
I9IO 



Copyright, igio, hy 
Longmans, Green, and Co^ 



^ 






(Oni.A365888 



C0 

LOUISA TUCKER PHILIPS 



CONTENTS 

Page 
Introduction 

I. Life of Macaulay ix 

II. Macaulay as Writer xv 

1. His Method xv 

2. His Style xviii 

III. Macaulay on Warren Hastings xx 

IV. India in the Time of Hastings . . . ... xxvii 

Bibliography xxx 

Chronological Table — Macaulay xxxi 

Chronological Table — Warren Hastings . . . xxxvi 
Abstract of the Essay on Warren Hastings . . . xxxviii 

Essay on Warren Hastings 3 

Notes 151 



INTRODUCTION 

I. Life of Macaulay 

Thomas Babington Macaulay, the most popular Eng- 
lish essayist and historian of the nineteenth century, was 
born in Leicestershire, England, October 25, 1800. He 
came of excellent parentage. His father, Zachary Macau- 
lay, a Scotch Presbyterian, was himself a distinguished 
man, one of the leaders of the anti-slavery movement, of 
stern and unbending integrity of character and of undevi- 
ating purpose, though lacking the brilliance, versatiUty, 
and charm of his more famous son. Macaulay's mother, 
of Quaker stock, was a woman of fine mind and of great 
sweetness of disposition, whose sensible training must 
have contributed largely to her son's lifelong freedom 
from self-consciousness and conceit. 

The boy's literary tendencies developed early, and, 
with reading, writing, and story- telling, he passed an 
unusually happy childhood. At the age of twelve he 
was sent to a small school at Shelford, near Cambridge. 
Here he studied well, but followed in general the same 
practices he had begun at home. Mathematics he ab- 
horred — unfortunately, as afterwards appeared, for to 
the end of his life his mind showed the need of the very 
disciphne that such a study might have given it. In 
1 81 8 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge. His dis- 
Hke for mathematics debarred him from the highest 
university honours ; but his facility in writing verse twice 



X INTRODUCTION 

gained him the Chancellor's medal for EngHsh poetry, 
and his excellent attainments in the classics and in gen- 
eral Kterature won a prize for Latin declamation, and a 
scholarship. He was a leader in the Union Debating 
Society, and his wonderful gift for conversation made 
him famous as one of the best talkers in England — a 
distinction he maintained to the end of his life. 

His reading was enormous. Except when talking, he 
was never without a book in his hand. Through ancient 
and modern literatures, in all their various forms of prose 
and verse, he ranged with the delight and freedom of a 
colt in a fresh pasture; but poetry, history, and prose 
fiction pleased him most. This wide reading was sur- 
passed only by his prodigious memory, scarcely equalled 
— certainly not surpassed — by that of any other man of 
letters. This astonishing range of reading, continued 
from boyhood to the end of his life, and this still more 
astonishing power of memory, serve to explain one of 
Macaulay's most striking traits as a writer: a range of 
allusion to men and events in fact and fiction, and an ease 
and propriety in employing these allusions, that are per- 
haps without parallel. Probably, too, from this wide 
reading without due reflection, and from this dependence 
upon a brilliant but not infallible memory, arose certain 
of Macaula3^'s essential and grave defects: he was thus 
sometimes led to form hasty conclusions, to assume facts 
without sufficient foundation, to startle with an imposing 
array of images and illustrations, instead of searching 
rigorously for the truth. 

After his graduation from Trinity, in 1822, Macaulay 
remained at the university for two years as a graduate 
student, and took his m.a. degree in 1824. As the result 
of an examination in which he stood first, he was elected 



INTRODUCTION xi 

a Fellow of Trinity College (one of the sixty masters of 
the college), with a stipend of $1500 a year for six years. 
He determined to study law; and in 1826 he was called 
to the bar. But he soon permanently abandoned his law 
practice upon discovering that his real bent was toward 
politics and literature. He was known as a writer before 
he left Cambridge, having contributed to KnigMs Quar- 
terly Magazine several creditable pieces, among them his 
poems "Ivry" and "Naseby," which are still read and 
enjoyed. But his actual career began in 1825, when he 
wrote his essay on Milton for the Edinburgh Review. All 
of the thirty-six essays that Macaulay wrote after 1825 
were contributed to the Edinburgh, to which he continued 
faithful as long as he wrote for magazine publication. 

With the appearance of the ''Milton," its author leapt 
into fame as had Byron with his Childe Harold. The 
success was overwhelming, and brought with it social as 
well as literary recognition. Macaulay's excellent talent 
for politics now, too, became evident, and he was soon 
plunged into the active and ardent public career that he 
followed for the best years of his life. From 1828 to 1830 
he served as Commissioner of Bankruptcy; in 1830 he 
entered parliament. It was the time of the great struggle 
over the Reform Bill, and gave the young orator and 
statesman the most favourable chance for the use of his 
talents. His first speech brought him fame, and through- 
out all his parliamentary life, though he never became an 
efficient debater, he remained one of the most active and 
eloquent speakers of his. time. A high sense of honour 
marked Macaulay's entire political career: he once voted 
for a bill that deprived him of ofhce ; he resigned a govern- 
ment position rather than support a slavery measure that 
did not meet his father's approval. All this time he con- 



xii INTRODUCTION 

tinued poor. Zachary Macaulay lost his very comfort- 
able fortune; the support of the family fell upon the son, 
whose income, since members of parliament receive no 
pay for their services, was now reduced to what he could 
earn by his pen. But his financial troubles were near an 
end. He was soon offered the post of legal adviser to the 
Supreme Council of India, with an excellent salary, and 
finally accepted the position, though his new duties were 
to take him thousands of miles from home. 

In India, which he reached in 1834, Macaulay distin- 
guished himself by his legal ability and able statesman- 
ship. He assisted in drawing up a new penal code that 
still remains a monument to his industry and legal learn- 
ing ; he vastly furthered the interests of general education. 
All this was in the face of constant and unmitigated public 
abuse, through which he pursued his way steadily and 
amiably, and accomplished his work. With all his other 
duties, he still read omnivorously, and continued his 
writing. Idleness seems to have been painful to him. We 
could scarcely credit his wonderful activity during this 
period were not the solid results before us to speak for 
themselves. 

Macaulay returned to England in 1838. From his 
salary he had saved a comfortable fortune, and was hence- 
forth never to know financial difficulties. His fame, too, 
had vastly increased. His fine work in India was known ; 
his essays had added to his literary reputation. At once 
he entered parliament as member for Edinburgh. Within 
the next few years he held many important offices of state, 
made many brilliant speeches (which are among the most 
valuable and durable of his productions, though the least 
read), engaged in many debates over great public ques- 
tions, and through it all conducted himself as a truly wise 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

and incorruptible statesman and patriot. But, as his 
desire to produce some elaborate and lasting literary work 
grew upon him, his interest in politics gradually declined, 
and, after 1848, he retired from active public life. For 
this, English politics was the poorer, but the world was 
richer by the History of England. 

To his ZT^.^/or^'Macaulay devoted all his brilhant literary 
talents: his immense knowledge, his skill in narration, his 
aptitude for research, and his splendour of style. The 
first two volumes of the History w^re published in 1848, 
the second two in 1855, and the last volume, unfinished, 
after the death of the author. Whatever may be the 
merits and defects of this remarkable production, it is 
quite safe to say that no history ever written brought to 
its author such immediate and wide-spread popularity and 
such pecuniary rewards. It became known all over the 
world, was read like a novel, and made its author the most 
popular English writer of his time. 

The essays and the History, however, formed but a 
part of Macaulay's literary work. In 1842 he had pub- 
lished a series of stirring narrative poems called The Lays 
of Ancient Rome. The Lays, though they may fail to 
present accurate pictures of the manners and customs of 
ancient Rome, and may lack the quahties of truly great 
poetry, are still delightful in the freshness and vigour of 
their style and are admirable as examples of superb nar- 
rative skill. Even the Lays do not complete the tale of 
Macaulay's literary labours, for his Speeches were care- 
fully edited, and issued in book form; and to the eighth 
edition of the Encyclopcedia Britannica he contributed, 
toward the close of his life, five brief biographies — those 
of Atterbury, Bunyan, Goldsmith, Dr. Johnson, and Wil- 
Uam Pitt. These biographies are among his best works. 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

The style in which they are written, as compared with 
that of most of the essays, is quieter, less oratorical and 
highly coloured, and more thoughtful and refined. The 
life of Johnson is at least delightful reading; the life of 
Pitt is truly excellent, and perhaps could not well be sur- 
passed as a picture of one of the greatest of English states- 
men: it is dignified, thoughtful, and at times profoundly 
eloquent. 

While Macaulay was living a retired life, writing in his 
villa at Kensington, the world was still mindful of him. 
The universities delighted to honour him; foreign societies 
bestowed decorations upon him; and, in 1857, the English 
government showed its appreciation of his services as 
writer and statesman by raising him to the peerage with 
the title of Baron Macaulay of Rothley. But his health, 
undermined by his too assiduous labours, had for some 
years been gradually failing. He died quietly at his 
home in 1859. England buried the great statesman, 
historian, and patriot in Westminster Abbey, where lie 
so many of the greatest of her dead. 

Whatever may be said of Macaulay as a thinker and 
writer — and competent critics have charged him with 
serious faults — only one judgment has ever been passed 
upon Macaulay as a man. In every relation of life he was 
altogether admirable. As a politician, he was absolutely 
incorruptible; as a friend, he was loyal and generous; as a 
son and brother and uncle, his amiability, unselfishness, 
and devotion were bej^ond praise: ''it is only the barest 
justice to say that he appears to have touched the furthest 
verge of human virtue, sweetness, and generosity." 

One of the best biographies ever written is the Life and 
Letters of Lord Macaulay, by his nephew, G. O. Trevelyan. 
This delightful book, with the sanest judgment and the 



INTRODUCTION xv 

finest taste, reveals the great man in all the relations of his 
life and in every phase of his multifold activity. Another 
excellent book on Macaulay, though of course far less 
elaborate than Trevelyan's Life, is the volume in the 
''English Men of Letters" series, by Mr. J. Cotter Morison 
— a little book full of interest and charm, and, what is 
perhaps still more rare, full of good sense, fine scholar- 
ship, and sound criticism. 

II. Macaulay as Writer 

I. — His Method 

Macaulay's literary activity seems phenomenal, when 
we remember that, up to 1848, when he retired from active 
politics, his writing was done in the hours snatched from 
a busy political career. Certainly the essays, the speeches, 
the poems, and the History form a large body of work and 
one of considerable variety. We are here, however, not 
so greatly concerned with the poet, the orator, and the 
historian, as with the essayist. But the same general 
qualities of style, both good and bad, that we find in 
the essays, we find also in all of Macaulay's writings. 
Although Macaulay's amazing popularity almost, though 
not entirely, silenced criticism during his lifetime, yet 
within the fifty years since his death thoughtful students 
of his works have dealt rather severely with some of 
his traits as thinker and writer. Such critics as Stephen, 
Morley, Bagehot, and Morison, though presenting their 
subject in different phases and surveying it from differ- 
ent points of view, yet reach practically the same gen- 
eral conclusions — and in these conclusions every careful 
reader of Macaulay's works is apt to concur. To such a 
reader Macaulay's quaHties lie mainly on the surface. It 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

is easy to see his great merits; it is almost equally easy 
to see his many and serious shortcomings. 

Those forty-four articles contributed to the Edhihurgh 
Review, Knighfs Quarterly Magazine, and the Encyclo- 
pcedia Britannica, and known as ''Macaulay's Essays," 
achieved a popularity hardly accorded to any other body 
of English literary work. In the mind of the average 
reader, they stand next to Shakespeare and the Bible. 
Their influence has been immense. What are the quali- 
ties that underhe this enormous popularity? 

We note, first, that Macaulay especially excels in nar- 
ration. Particular favorites among his essays are the 
biographical and historical studies, such as the "Clive," 
the "Warren Hastings," the "Addison," the "Johnson," 
the "Chatham," and the "Sir William Temple." Here, 
as everywhere else in Macaulay, the reader is impressed 
with the astonishing variety of information on a multi- 
tude of themes. This writer's vast reading and retentive 
memory enable him to colour and adorn any subject with 
a host of allusions that quicken and entertain the most 
sluggish reader. One finds the learning gained from whole 
libraries condensed into a few pages. Macaulay abounds 
in comparisons and striking illustrations that give to his 
style an unusual picturesqueness and force. Added to 
this wealth of allusion is an equally unsurpassed clear- 
ness in the presentation of his ideas: nothing is left 
unexplained or obscure; the meaning of every single sen- 
tence is definite and precise. The reader's interest is 
sustained by a gift for narration unequalled by that of 
any historian and unsurpassed by that of any writer of 
fiction. Here Macaulay is above praise. He handles 
his material with the ease and grace of the great master 
of narrative that he is. With all this go an inspiring 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

vitality and energy and a wholesome manliness of tone 
and sentiment. 

But Macaulay, as the phrase goes, "has the defects of 
his qualities." For the sake of that very picturesqueness 
and force that deUght the reader, he is only too apt to 
sacrifice absolute accuracy of statement; for the sake of 
presenting brilliant pictures, he is Hkely to suppress 
material that is necessary to a knowledge of the whole, 
truth; for the sake of making striking antitheses, he some- 
times, though unwittingly, distorts his facts. Then, too, 
the whole body of his work is marked by a lack of deep 
thought and deep emotion. He sounds only the famiUar 
note, he utters only the average, commonplace sentiment. 
Rarely, if ever, does he probe a subject to the bottom, 
discover new truths and set forth new ideas. As a rule, 
he plays only upon the surface; he never sounds the depths 
of the human soul, Hke Carlyle; he seldom stimulates real 
thought, as do the truly great prophets and seers of the 
race. He makes no attempt to solve the eternal problems 
of life; he is not suggestive of higher things, and never rises 
from the earth into " an ampler ether, a diviner air." He 
jumps too hastily at conclusions: truth he finds always on 
the surface, never at the bottom of the well. Rarely, if 
ever, in doubt about anything, he settles every question 
immediately and absolutely, always cock-sure, sublimely 
confident. The half-tones, the deUcate shadings, the 
quiet suggestiveness of all really great thinkers, as well as 
of all perfect masters of style, are quite beyond him. 

All this must be frankly admitted; it was part of the 
man, and could not have been otherwise. But for young 
people, especially, if they are duly warned that he is not 
an infallible guide, Macaulay is still one of the most useful 
and dehghtful of writers. No other can present to them 



xviii INTRODUCTION 

such brilliant and entertaining pictures from history 
with such an imposing array of great men and great deeds. 
No other can in so short a time lead them over so vast a 
field, can so quicken the historic imagination and can so 
stimulate further reading and inquiry. All this is ap- 
parent in the ''Warren Hastings," which in both its good 
and bad qualities is thoroughly typical of the writer. We 
, shall see later that here he was not careful about all of his 
facts, and hence hastily reaches some conclusions utterly 
at variance with the truth. We shall notice his occasional 
overconfidence and his failure to grasp certain shades of 
human character. But we are sure, also, to admire the 
force of his style, the remarkable range of his information, 
his series of brilliant pictures, his bursts of lofty eloquence, 
and his ability to gratify our intellectual curiosity and 
delight our historic imagination. 

2. — His Style 

The subject-matter that Macaulay especially delighted 
to treat, and was especially successful in treating, was 
largely of the kind that allows itself to be cast into the 
form of narrative. His characteristic wa}^ of expressing 
himself about the matter he treated, that is, his use of 
words and sentences, — his ''style," — was something new 
to the readers of his day, and was the object of wonder and 
admiration. This style is distinctly oratorical — that of 
spoken rather than of written discourse, but was also 
admirably fitted for a certain kind of journalistic writing. 
It is, indeed, upon the style of journalism that Macaulay's 
style has left the most wide-spread and lasting impression. 

Macaulay's vocabulary is well balanced, and ample for 
his purpose. In this he is surpassed by scarcely any writer 
of English. Sometimes he uses too many words; some- 



INTRODUCTION xix 

times he fails to choose his words with sufficient precision 
and dehcacy; but, for the matter he handles, his vocabu- 
lary is in general splendidly adequate. But his sentence 
structure, however captivating it may have proved to the 
readers of his own time, present-day critics find unsatis- 
factory. It is true that for the purposes of thrilHng nar- 
rative and graphic description his style is often more than 
satisfactory: it is sometimes even splendid. Undoubtedly 
it can arouse the attention and stir the blood of readers 
who can also appreciate the art of far greater masters. 
But Macaulay's sentences, though always perfectly clear, 
and usually coherent and emphatic, are often sadly lack- 
ing in beauty — a quality certainly indispensable to all 
great art. In truth, Macaulay is not master of his instru- 
ment. Though his style does indeed vary to a certain 
extent according to his subject — as in some passages of 
the ''Sir William Temple," the "William Pitt," and the 
History, where he attains either real power and m^ajesty 
or a beautiful simplicity — it is, in the main, but one long 
blast of the trumpet. He sacrifices too much to emphasis 
and force. In his sentence rhythm there is Httle variety. 
We at length grow weary of the roll, the balance, and the 
uniform cadence of his longer sentences, and equally weary 
of the undue emphasis and lack of unity in his shorter. 
The reader has only to turn to such prose writers as 
Ruskin, Arnold, Newman, Pater, or to that master of the 
oratorical style, Burke, to see how deficient are Macaulay's 
sentences in delicacy and variety of rhythm. That he 
attained exactly what he aimed at, is highly probable; 
and he himself would have claimed no more for his style 
than its due. The hardness, the monotony, and the 
gUtter, where one comes to long for flexibility, variety, 
and tints more delicate and subdued, are defects perhaps 



XX INTRODUCTION 

inseparable from the very qualities we consider praise- 
worthy. While one does not single out certain passages 
or sentences for meditation upon either their thought or 
music, he yet follows Macaulay with interest and with 
ease: he understands and he is entertained. 

III. Macaulay on Warren Hastings 

The essay on Warren Hastings, a companion piece to 
the essay on Clive, and justly among the most popular 
of Macaulay's productions, was written for the Edinburgh 
Review. Gleig's Life of Warren Hastings, which purports 
to be the subject of the essay, really furnishes very little 
of the material. With slight reference to Gleig, Macaulay 
presents his own views of the life and conduct of "the 
great proconsul" in a way so exhilarating as to arouse 
enthusiastic interest in the events of that astonishing 
career. The general structure of the essay is beyond 
praise. The life of the great ruler, replete with stirring 
and brilliant episodes, moves before us like an enchanting 
panorama. No one understood better than Macaulay 
how to select material so as to sustain the interest of the 
reader. Here, too, Macaulay's characteristic style, not 
always admirable in itself nor always exactly suited to 
its subject-matter, finds precisely the right material to 
work upon. There is much in it of "the gorgeous east"; 
the full colouring is justified; the scenes of Hastings' career 
in India and of the memorable impeachment proceedings 
in England call for exactly the heightened expression in 
which Macaulay delights. The subject of the essay is 
one of the most remarkable of Englishmen; the writer of 
the essay is one of the most picturesque of English stylists. 
Multitudes of readers know Warren Hastings only as the 
subject of this essay, and only as Macaulay presents him. 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

All this renders doubly unfortunate the fact that Macau- 
lay fails in several respects truly to picture the character 
of Hastings, and even fails in several, cases to present 
actual historical truth. 

As a result of the impeachment proceedings, largely 
instigated by Hastings' bitter enemy, Francis, something 
like a body of myth grew up around Hastings and at length 
gathered into tradition. This mainly incorrect tradition 
Macaulay received; some of it he utilized. Furthermore, 
he followed untrustworthy guides, such as James Mill's 
History of India, which has long since been discredited, 
and Gleig's Life of Hastings, which, though favourable to 
its subject, is by no means infallible. Again, Macaulay, it 
must be confessed, sometimes based his statements upon 
his own pure assumptions. His characteristic tendency 
toward over-statement, and his inabijity to recognize 
possible doubts and to analyze complexities of character, 
are here most glaringly manifest. His very ability as a 
story-teller serves him ill as a biographer. In order to 
heighten the effect of his story, he presents the char- 
acter of Hastings without shade, altogether good in some 
transactions, altogether bad in others. Hence, without 
any excuse, he often assumes facts and imputes motives. 
Though Macaulay grew more favourable to Hastings as he 
became more famihar with his subject, yet to the last he 
asserts vaguely that Hastings was chargeable with loose 
pecuniary transactions, even with ''great crimes," and, 
in certain specific instances, with inhumanity and bad 
faith. 

Since the publication of the essay, in 1841, history has 
done much to rectify these misconceptions. Such author- 
itative works as Sir John Strachey's Hastings and the 
Rohilla War and Sir James Stephens' Story of Nuncomar 



xxii INTRODUCTION 

in general show the character of Hastings in a Kght different 
from that thrown upon it by Macaulay. And, recently, 
the pubHcation of the State Papers of India, ijj2-ijS^, 
by Mr. Forrest, and of the book based upon these, A 
Vindication of Warren Hastings, by Mr. G. W. Hastings, 
almost entirely reconstruct one's conception of Hastings, 
and discredit several of Macaulay's statements. 

The reader of the present volume cannot be expected 
to investigate the matter in detail or to follow out the 
several arguments. It is possible, however, briefly to 
summarize Macaulay's charges, as well as those actual 
facts of history that place Hastings' actions in a new and 
more favourable light. 

f Macaulay intimates that Warren Hastings was, to say 
the least, not scrupulous in money miatters.J There is 
no real warrent for such a statement; indeed, it is entirely 
contradicted by all recorded facts. 

(^Again, Macaulay vaguely charges Hastings with certain 
^'great crimes" (see p. 96).^ These "crimes," as Macaulay 
viewed them, seem to have been, first, Hastings' conduct 
in regard to the Rohilla war; second, his alleged connection 
with the trial and execution of Nuncomar; third, his 
treatment of the Nabob of Bengal and of the Mogul 
emperor; fourth, his treatment of Cheyte Sing; and, last, 
his inhumanity towards the Begums of Gude. 

Macaulay represents the Rohilla War as an unwarrant- 
able device used by Hastings to get money for the Com- 
pany. This device took the form of a contract between 
Hastings and the Vizier of Gude, by which, Hastings, in 
return for the sum of 400,000 pounds paid to the Com- 
pany by the Vizier, was to lend English troops for the con- 
quest of the innocent and inoffensive Rohillas. The 
actual facts are as follows: The Rohillas themselves 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 

brought on the war by their own perfidious conduct. 
They had agreed to pay the Vizier the sum of forty lacs 
for aiding them against the Mahrattas. This sum, after 
the assistance had been rendered, they refused to pay, 
and actually began to plot with the Mahrattas against 
their former benefactor. Now, Oude was the ally of 
the Company, and asked for English troops in order to 
punish the treachery of the Rohillas. Hastings was at 
first unwilling to furnish the troops, but at length saw 
the wisdom of preventing an alliance between the Rohillas 
and the Mahrattas, and of furthering the annexation of 
Rohilcund to Oude as a further strengthening of his north- 
west frontier. With the aid of the English troops, the 
Vizier was victorious. But no such atrocities occurred 
as are described by Macaulay; nor were the Rohillas at 
all the people his fancy painted (see note, p. 32). The 
net result of the war, as given by Mr. Forrest, was that 
''about seventeen or eighteen hundred Rohillas, with their 
families, were expelled from Rohilcund, and Hindu inhab- 
itants, amounting to about seven hundred thousand, 
remained in possession of their patrimonial acres, and were 
seen cultivating their fields in peace." In regard to Nun- 
comar (see p. 44 ff.), it has been proved beyond perad- 
venture that Hastings had nothing whatever to do with 
the prosecution for forgery, the trial, or the execution. 
The proceedings against Nuncomar for forgery were begun 
six weeks before he brought any charges against Hastings, 
and the latter could not, therefore, have entertained the 
malicious motive imputed to him. Hastings' own sworn 
statement was to this effect, and history proves it to be 
true. Nor did Hastings incite the Supreme Court against 
Nuncomar; rather the opposite. The Court acted en- 
tirely on its own initiative, according to law and justice. 



xxiv INTRODUCTION 

The penalty was probably unduly severe; but Macaulay's 
attempt largely to condone Nuncomar's offence, as viewed 
in the light of contemporary Hindoo morality, seems 
quite unwarranted. 

Furthermore, Hastings' treatment of the Nabob of 
Bengal, which, according to Macaulay, was unjust (see 
p. 30), now appears to have been altogether justifiable. 
Macaulay states that ^'the allowance of the Nabob was 
reduced at a stroke from three hundred and twenty 
thousand a year to half that sum." While this was indeed 
the case, it was yet the inevitable result of that very aboH- 
tion by Hastings of the "double government" of Bengal 
which Macaulay regards as a great stroke of statesmanship. 
When the Nabob was the sovereign prince of Bengal, his 
lavish allowance was perhaps justifiable; in his altered 
condition after the abolition of the double government, 
even half such a sum was extremely liberal. 

Macaulay again charges that Hastings' action toward 
the Mogul, in withdrawing from him the Company's 
tribute of three hundred thousand pounds a year, and 
in taking from him the provinces of Corah and Allahabad 
and giving them to the Vizier of Oude, was harsh and 
unjustifiable, if not actually criminal (see p. 31). But 
the Mogul had been playing false to the English. He had 
been intriguing with their worst enemies, the Mahrattas, 
to whom he had actually ceded those very provinces of 
Corah and Allahabad that had been given to him by 
the EngHsh for his protection. These districts, then, 
were not "torn from the Mogul" by Warren Hastings, 
but merely taken back by their original owners, and sold 
to the Vizier of Oude, whose territory they adjoined and 
who was in a position to defend them in the interests of 
the English. The vast revenue that was customarily paid 



INTRODUCTION xxv 

by the English to the Mogul was for the purpose of pre- 
serving, against the Mahrattas and other enemies, the 
integrity of the Mogul's empire, which thus served as a 
partial safeguard of the English interests. When the 
Mogul proved faithless, and intrigued with those very 
tribes who threatened his own and the British dominion, 
the revenue paid to him by the EngUsh was very 
properly withdrawn. 

Hastings' treatment of Cheyte Sing, Macaulay seems 
finally to have thought justified; yet he had already said: 
"The English government now chose to wring money out 
of Cheyte Sing. It had formerly been convenient to treat 
him as a sovereign prince; it was now convenient to 
treat him as a subject" (p. 8i). 

Cheyte Sing was never a "sovereign prince." He was 
the grandson of an adventurer, son of a farmer of the 
revenue, and a vassal of the Vizier of Gude, who fined him 
at pleasure. He became, in turn, the vassal of the Com- 
pany, without any title to independence. The fine laid 
upon him by Hastings was heavy, but it was perfectly 
legal, and was imposed as a penalty for conspiracy and 
rebellion. 

In the affair of the Begums, the reader is naturally in- 
clined to feel more sympathy with Macaulay's imputation 
of injustice (see p. 89 ff.). But, in fact, the treasure held 
by these royal ladies in defiance of the Vizier of Gude was 
not lawfully theirs. They maintained an armed force 
against the Vizier, and, when the insurrection at Benares 
broke out, they actually waged war against the Company. 
Hastings then felt justified in withdrawing the protection 
accorded them, and in treating them as active enemies. 
The governor-general aided the Vizier in regaining the 
treasure from the Begums, since it was only by this means 



xxvi INTRODUCTION 

that the Vizier could hope to pay the large amount he 
owed the Company, The treasure was regained without 
bloodshed; the Begums were pensioned, and were never 
personally molested. It is true that the eunuchs were 
harshly treated, but for this the Resident of Lucknow, 
and not Hastings, was alone responsible. 

It remains to be said that Macaulay fails correctly 
to portray the character of the Chief Justice of Bengal, 
Sir Elijah Impey. Though perhaps not faultless as a 
man and a jurist, Impey was by no means the wretch 
of Macaulay's imagination. Most of the allegations made 
by Macaulay against his character are at best unwarrant- 
able assumptions; some of them, in the light of actual 
historic facts, are wholly untrue (see note, p. 8). 

Even in the face of these errors of fact and of opinion, 
the reader of Macaulay's "Warren Hastings" must not 
suppose that the great historian was guilty of wilful 
misrepresentation. Macaulay was a fair-minded and 
truthful man, of a large and generous spirit. His pre- 
judices sometimes distorted his vision; even his very 
admiration of all that was noble in life and conduct 
occasionally led him into gross exaggeration. In the 
present case, we have seen that his errors arose from his 
reliance upon untrustworthy guides, as well as from his 
instinctive desire, as an artist in narration, to heighten 
his effects. The reader can forgive much for the sake of 
such a masterly narrative as "Warren Hastings," and 
can well understand that, though it may be advisable to 
correct certain misconceptions and errors in fact, one may 
still find delight in Macaulay's noble story and may still 
admire the genius that produced it. 



INTRODUCTION xxvii 

IV. India in the Time of Hastings 

Little would be gained by here presenting even the 
barest synopsis of the history of India down to the time 
of Warren Hastings. Most of the introductory material 
the reader of the essay on Warren Hastings actually needs 
is given in Macaulay's essay on Clive, which forms the 
best possible introduction to the present work. Also, 
the rather elaborate notes on Clive, the Mahrattas, the 
Mogul empire, and the East India Company, in the present 
volume, are intended to serve in this capacity. But, in 
order that the reader may follow the story intelligently, 
a few important points must be kept in mind: 

1. India is not really one country, but many, the 
people of which differ vastly in laws, religions, languages, 
and even in blood. "No other country on earth furnishes 
even a distant parallel to the structure of Indian society 
— a society in which the lines of division are still the primi- 
tive ones of race, religion, and caste, deepened by centuries 
of incessant warfare; in which more than forty different 
tribes or nationahties, speaking over a hundred and eighty 
different tongues and dialects, and confessing nine different 
religions, are jumbled together into a formless and inex- 
tricable mosaic, and sub-divided again into something like 
twenty-four hundred castes, each caste a distinctive, 
exclusive, separate entity; in which three-fourths of the 
people live by the land, and nineteen-twentieths of them 
are wholly iUiterate; in which faiths, usages, habits, and 
customs are preserved with a jealousy and intensity far 
beyond the range of Occidental experience." ^ 

2. From the standpoint of the reader of the essay on 

^ From " American Opinion and British Rule in India," Sydney 
Brooks, North American Review, Dec, 1909. 



xxviii INTRODUCTION 

Warren Hastings, the population of India, which to-day 
numbers 294,000,000, may be roughly divided into two 
parts : first, the native Hindoos, descendants of the original 
Aryan conquerors, numbering about 200,000,000, oi* two- 
thirds of the whole; and, second, the foreign races, inclu- 
ding the Mahometan invaders, such as the Arabs, the 
Persians, and the Afghans, numbering perhaps 10,000,000. 
The remainder of the population is composed of many 
other races, but these do not figure in the "Warren 
Hastings." 

3. In India, there are two principal religions — the 
Brahman and the Mahometan. The Brahmans are all 
native Hindoos, and number perhaps 160,000,000, or 
about one-half of the population. The Mahometans 
include both native Hindoos and foreigners, that is, the 
descendents of those Afghans, Persians, and Arabs who 
at various times overran and subdued parts of northern 
and central India, and imposed their government and 
rehgion upon the natives whom they conquered; and also 
the descendants of those Hindoos who adopted the religion 
of their conquerors. The Mahometans number perhaps 
62,000,000, or about one-fifth of the entire population.^ 

4. These invading Mahometans from the northwest 
founded great states of their own, such as the Mogul 
empire, or subdued some of the native states, such as 
the kingdom of Gude. There were also in the time of 
Hastings, and still are, in India, several powerful native 
states, such as Mysore, which were Hindoo in race and 
Brahman in religion. 

^ There is great diversity in statistics regarding the population, 
races, and rehgions of India. The figures given above are only 
approximately correct, and are meant to convey only a general 
impression. 



INTRODUCTION xxix 

5. Three great trading companies, the Dutch, the 
French, and the EngHsh, were struggHng for the commer- 
cial and, later, for the political, control of the whole of 
India. Between the two stronger, the English and the 
French, the struggle was to the death, and, just as in the 
New World, the English finally conquered. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The following books and essays of course represent 
but a small part of the literature that deals with Macau- 
lay's life and writings, yet they are among the best of their 
kind, and are all easily accessible to the student: Bagehot, 
Walter, ''Macaulay," in Literary Studies; Minto, WilUam, 
^'Macaulay," in Manual of English Prose Literature; 
Morley, John, ''Macaulay," in Chambers' Cyclopedia of 
English Literature; Morley, John, "Macaulay," in Critical 
Miscellanies; Morison, J. Cotter, Macaulay, in ^'EngHsh 
Men of Letters" series; Pattison, Mark, "Macaulay," in 
Encyclopcedia Britannica; Paul, Herbert, "Macaulay and 
his Critics," in Men and Letters; Saintsbury, George, 
"Macaulay," in Corrected Impressions; Stephen, Leslie, 
"Macaulay," in Dictionary of National Biography; Stephen 
Leslie, "Macaulay," in Hours in a Library; Trevelyan, 
G. O., Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay. 

The following are some of the chief authorities on the 
life of Warren Hastings: Gleig, G. R., Memoirs of the Life 
of Warren Hastings; Keene, H. G., "Warren Hastings," 
in Dictionary of National Biography; Hastings, G. W., 
A Vindication of Warren Hastings; Lyall, Sir Alfred, 
Warren Hastings; Stephen, Sir James, The Story of Nun- 
comar; Strachey, Sir John, Hastings and the Rohilla War. 



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CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE — WARREN HASTINGS 





Warren 




A.D. 


Hastings' 
Age 


Historical Events 


1732 




Warren Hastings born, Dec. 6. 


1739 


— 


Great Persian invasion of India by Nadir Shah. 


1740 


8 


Hastings sent to school in Newington, London. 


1742 


10 


Hastings removed to W^estminster school. 




— 


Dupleix became governor of French India. 


1750 


18 


Hastings arrived in Bengal as clerk. 


1751 


— 


Clive gained the victory at Arcot. 


1753 


21 


Hastings sent to Cossimbazar to trade for the Com- 
pany. 


1756 


. — 


Black Hole massacre, by Surajah Dowlah. 




— 


Seven Years' War begun in Europe. 


1757 


25 


Hastings a prisoner at large at Moorshedabad, and 
secret agent for the Company. 




— 


Clive won the Battle of Plassey. 


1760 


— 


Sir Eyre Coote defeated Lally at Arcot and at 
Wandewash. 




— 


George III became King of England. 


1761 


29 


Hastings made member of Council of Calcutta. 




— 


Pondicherry, the French stronghold, taken by Sir 
Eyre Coot-e. 


1764 


32 


Hastings returned to England. 


1765 


— 


Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa paid tribute to England. 


1769 


37 


Hastings returned to India as Member of Council 
at Madras. 




— 


Letters of Junius commenced. 


1771 


39 


Hastings made governor of Bengal. 


1772 


40 


The dual government abolished in Bengal. 






Mohammed Reza Khan, the native governor, re- 
moved. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE xxxvii 

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE — WARREN HASTINGS. — Continued 





Warren 




A.D. 


Hastings' 
Age 


Historical Events 




— 


Corah and Allahabad sold by Hastings to Sujah 
Dowlah. 


1773 


— 


The Regulating Act passed. 





— 


Supreme Court of Judicature established at Calcutta. 


1774 


42 


Hastings made Governor-General of British India. 






Sir Elijah Impey and Sir Philip Francis arrive at 
Calcutta. 




— 


Death of Lord Clive. 


1775 


43 


Hastings accused of accepting bribes from a rela- 
tive of Meer Jaffier. 




— 


Nuncomar executed. 


1777 


45 


Hastings had trouble with the Council; and with 




— 


the Directors of the Company. 




— 


Hastings married Baroness Imhoff. 


1778 


— 


Pondicherry captured by Munro. 


1779 


— 


Great siege of Gibraltar begun. 


1780 


48 


Hastings fought a duel with Sir Philip Francis. 




— 


Hyder AH began war in the Carnatic. 


1781 


49 


Benares subjected to the Company. 




— 


Hastings accused of accepting a bribe of $500,000 
from the Nabob of Oude. 




— 


Hyder AH defeated by Coote at Porto Novo. 


1784 


— 


Pitt passed his India Bill. 


1785 


53 


Hastings resigned and returned to England. 


1787 


— 


Burke proposed to impeach Hastings. 


1788 


56 


Hastings' trial for high crimes and misdemeanours 
began February 13. 


1789 


— 


Meeting of the States-General in France. 


1793 


— 


Louis XVI beheaded. 


1794 


62 


Hastings settled at Daylesford. 


1795 


63 


Hastings acquitted, April 23. 


1800 


68 


Macaulay born. 


1803 


~ 


Mahrattas and French defeated at Assaye by Arthur 
Wellesley, afterwards Duke of Wellington. 



xxxviii CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE — WARREN RASTINGS. — Continued 



A.D. 


Warren 

Hastings' 

Age 


Historical Events 


1804 
1805 
1807 


— 


Napoleon made emperor of the French. 
Lord Nelson gained the battle of Trafalgar. 
Slave trade abolished in England and the United 
States. 


1813 


81 


House of Commons "uncovered and stood up" to 
receive Hastings. 


1815 


— 


Battle of Waterloo. 


1818 


86 


Death of Hastings, at Daylesford, August 22. 



ABSTRACT OF THE ESSAY ON WARREN HASTINGS 

Pages 3-5. Introductory. 

5-9. Ancestry, birth, and education of Hastings. 
10- 14. First period in India. 

14- 18. Four years in England, and return to India. 
18- 28. Affairs in Bengal; Nuncomar. 
28- 37. Financial difficulties; the Rohilla war. 
37- 44. The new Council; Sir Philip Francis; Junius. 
44- 55. Nuncomar 's charges against Hastings; trial and death 

of Nuncomar. 
55- 65. Conflicts in the Council; the Mahratta war; Sir Eyre 

Coote. 
65- 72. Impey's reign of terror. 
73- 76. Hyder Ali, and war in the Carnatic. 
76- 87. Affairs in Benares; Cheyte Sing;/ the double govern- 
ment. 
87- 96. Oude and the Begums. 

96-106. Reflections on Hastings' character and administration. 
106-108. Hastings' return to England; his reception there. 
108-117. Hastings' mistakes; Francis; Burke. 
1 1 7-1 27. Preliminaries to the impeachment. 
127-140. The great trial. 

140-149. Hastings' life at Daylesford; his last days; his death; 
general comments. 



ESSAY ON WARREN HASTINGS 



WARREN HASTINGS. (October, 1841.) 

Memoirs of the Life of Warren Hastings, first Governor- 
General of Bengal. Compiled from Original Papers, by 
the Rev. G. R. Gleig, M.A. 3 vols. 8vo. London: 
1841.. 

This book seems to have been manufactured in pursu- 
ance of a contract, by which the representatives of Warren 
Hastings, on the one part, bound themselves to furnish 
papers, and Mr. Gleig, on the other part, bound himself 
to furnish praise. It is but just to say that the covenants 5 
on both sides have been most faithfully kept; and the 
result is before us in the form of three big bad volumes, 
full of undigested correspondence and undiscerning 
panegyric. 

If it were worth while to examine this performance in 10 
detail, we could easily make a long article by merely 
pointing out inaccurate statements, inelegant expressions, 
and immoral doctrines. But it would be idle to waste 
criticism on a bookmaker; and, whatever credit Mr. Gleig 
may have justly earned by former works, it is as a book- 15 
maker, and nothing more, that he now comes before us. 
More eminent men than Mr. Gleig have written nearly 
as ill as he, when they have stooped to similar drudgery. 
It would be unjust to estimate Goldsmith by the History 
of Greece, or Scott by the Life of Napoleon. Mr. Gleig 20 
is neither a Goldsmith nor a Scott; but it would be unjust 
to deny that he is capable of something better than these 
Memoirs. It would also, we hope and believe, be unjust 

3 



4 WARREN HASTINGS 

to charge any Christian minister with the guilt of dehber- 
ately maintaining some propositions which we find in this 
book. It is not too much to say that Mr. Gleig has 
written several passages, which bear the same relation 
5 to the Prince of Machiavelli that the Prince of Machiavelli 
bears to the Whole Duty of Man, and which would excite 
amazement in a den of robbers, or on board of a schooner 
of pirates. But we are willing to attribute these offences 
to haste, to thoughtlessness, and to that disease of the 

lo understanding which may be called the Furor Biographi- 
cus, and which is to writers of lives what the goitre is to 
an Alpine shepherd, or dirt-eating to a Negro slave. 

We are inclined to think that we shall best meet the 
wishes of our readers, if, instead of dwelling on the faults 

15 of this book, we attempt to give, in a way necessarily hasty 
and imperfect, our own view of the life and character of 
Mr. Hastings. Our feeling towards him is not exactly that 
of the House of Commons which impeached him in 1787; 
neither is it that of the House of Commons which 

20 uncovered and stood up to receive him in 18 13. He 
had great qualities, and he rendered great services to the 
state. ^ But to represent him as a man of stainless virtue 
is to make him ridiculous; and from regard for his memory, 
if from no other feeling, his friends would have done well 

25 to lend no countenance to such puerile adulation^ We 
believe that, if he were now living, he would have suffi- 
cient judgment and sufiicient greatness of mind to wish 
to be shown as he was. ' He must have known that there 
were dark spots on his fame. „ He might also have felt 

30 with pride that the splendour of his fame would bear 
many spots. He would have preferred, we are confident, 
even the severity of Mr. Mill to the puffing of Mr. Gleig. 
He would have wished posterity to have a likeness of 



WARREN HASTINGS 5 

him, though an unfavourable likeness, rather than a 
daub at once insipid and unnatural, resembling neither 
him nor any body else. ''Paint me as I am," said Oliver 
Cromwell, while sitting to young Lely. " If you leave out 
the scars and wrinkles, I will not pay you a shilling." 5 
Even in such a trifle, the great Protector showed both 
his good sense and his magnanimity. He did not wish 
all that was characteristic in his countenance to be lost, 
in the vain attempt to give him the regular features and 
smooth blooming cheeks of the curl-pated minions of 10 
James the First. He was content that his face should 
go forth marked with all the blemishes which had been 
put on it by time, by war, by sleepless nights, by anxiety, 
perhaps by remorse; but with valour, policy, authority, 
and public care written in all its princely lines. If men 15 
truly great knew their own interest, it is thus that they 
would wish their minds to be portrayed. 

Warren Hastings sprang from an ancient and illustrious 
race. It has been afiirmed that his pedigree can be traced 
back to the great Danish sea-king, whose sails were long 20 
the terror of both coasts of the British Channel, and who, 
after many fierce and doubtful struggles, yielded at last 
to the valour and genius of Alfred. But the undoubted 
splendour of the line of Hastings needs no illustration 
from fable. One branch of that line wore, in the four- 25 
teenth century, the coronet of Pembroke. From another 
branch sprang the renowned Chamberlain, the faithful 
adherent of the White Rose, whose fate has furnished so 
striking a theme both to poets and to historians. His 
family received from the Tudors the earldom of Hunting- 30 
don, which, after long dispossession, was regained in our 
time by a series of events scarcely paralleled in romance. 

The lords of the manor of Daylesford, in Worcestershire, 



6 WARREN HASTINGS 

claimed to be considered as the heads of this distinguished 
family. The main stock, indeed, prospered less than 
some of the younger shoots. But the Daylesford family, 
though not ennobled, was wealthy and highly considered, 
5 till, about two hundred years ago, it was overwhelmed 
by the great ruin of the civil war. The Hastings of that 
time was a zealous cavalier. He raised money on his 
lands, sent his plate to the mint at Oxford, joined the 
royal arm}^, and, after spending half his property in the 

lo cause of King Charles, was glad to ransom himself by 
making over most of the remaining half to Speaker 
Lenthal. The old seat at Daylesford still remained in the 
family; but it could no longer be kept up; and in the 
following generation it was sold to a merchant of London. 

15 Before this transfer took place, the last Hastings of 
Daylesford had presented his second son to the rectory 
of the parish in which the ancient residence of the family 
stood. The living was of little value; and the situation 
of the poor clergyman, after the sale of the estate, was 

20 deplorable. He was constantly engaged in lawsuits 
about his tithes with the new lord of the manor, and was 
at length utterly ruined. His eldest son, Howard, a 
well-conducted young man, obtained a place in the Cus- 
toms. The second son, Pynaston, an idle worthless boy, 

25 married before he was sixteen, lost his wife in two years, 
and died in the West Indies, leaving to the care of his 
unfortunate father a little orphan, destined to strange 
and memorable vicissitudes of fortune. 

Warren, the son of Pynaston, was born on the sixth of 

30 December, 1732. His mother died a few days later, and 
he was left dependent on his distressed grandfather. The 
child was early sent to the village school, where he learned 
his letters on the same bench with the sons of the peas- 



WARREN HASTINGS 7 

antry. Nor did any thing in his garb or fare indicate that 
his Hfe was to take a widely different course from that of 
the young rustics with whom he studied and played. But 
no cloud could overcast the dawn of so much genius and 
so much ambition. The very ploughmen observed, and 5 
long remembered, how kindly little Warren took to his 
book. The daily sight of the lands which his ancestors 
had possessed, and which had passed into the hands of 
strangers, filled his young brain with wild fancies and 
projects. He loved to hear stories of the wealth and 10 
greatness of his progenitors, of their splendid housekeeping, 
their loyalty, and their valour. On one bright summer 
day, the boy, then just seven years old, lay on the bank of 
the rivulet which flows through the old domain of his house 
to join the Isis. There, as threescore and ten years later 15 
he told the tale, rose in his mind a scheme which, through 
all the turns of his eventful career, was never abandoned. 
He w^ould recover the estate which had belonged to 
his fathers. He would be Hastings of Daylesford. This 
purpose, formed in infancy and poverty, grew stronger 20 
as his intellect expanded and as his fortune rose. He pur- 
sued his plan with that calm but indomitable force of will 
which was the most striking peculiarity of his character. 
When, under a tropical sun, he ruled fifty millions of 
Asiatics, his hopes, amidst all the cares of war, finance, 25 
and legislation, still pointed to Daylesford. And when 
his long public life, so singularly chequered with good and 
evil, with glory and obloquy, had at length closed for ever, 
it was to Daylesford that he retired to die. 

When he was eight years old, his uncle Howard deter- 30 
mined to take charge of him, and to give him a liberal 
education. The boy went up to London, and was sent to 
a school at Newington, where he was well taught but ill fed. 



8 WARREN HASTINGS 

He always attributed the smallness of his stature to the 
hard and scanty fare of this seminary. At ten he was 
removed to Westminster School, then flourishing under 
the care of Dr. Nichols. Vinny Bourne, as his pupils 
5 affectionately called him, was one of the masters. 
Churchill, Colman, Lloyd, Cumberland, Cowper, were 
among the students. With Cowper, Hastings formed a 
friendship which neither the lapse of time, nor a wide 
dissimilarity of opinions and pursuits, could wholly dis- 

lo solve. It does not appear that they ever met after they 
had grown to manhood. But forty years later, when 
the voices of many great orators_were. crying for vengeance 
on the oppressor of India, the shy and secluded poet could 
image to himself Hastings the Governor- General only 

15 as the Hastings with whom he had rowed on the Thames, 
and played in the cloister, and refused to believe that so 
good-tempered a fellow could have done any thing very 
wrong. His own life had been spent in praying, musing, 
and rhyming among the water-hlies of the Ouse. He had 

20 preserved in no common measure the innocence of child- 
hood. His spirit had indeed been severely tried, but not 
by temptations which impelled him to any gross violation 
of the rules of social morality. He had never been at- 
tacked by combinations of powerful and deadly enemies. 

25 He had never been compelled to make a choice between 
innocence and greatness, between crime and ruin. Firmly 
as he held in theory the doctrine of human depravity, his 
habits were such that he was unable to conceive how far 
from the path of right even kind and noble natures may 

30 be hurried by the rage of conflict and the lust of dominion. 

Hastings had another associate at Westminster of 

whom we shall have occasion to make frequent mention, 

Elijah Impey. We know little about their school days. 



WARREN HASTINGS 9 

But, we think, we may safely venture to guess that, 
whenever Hastings wished to play any trick more than 
usually naughty, he hired Impey with a tart or a ball to 
act as fag in the worst part of the prank. 

Warren was distinguished among his comrades as an 5 
excellent swimmer, boatman, and scholar. x\t fourteen he 
was first in the examination for the foundation. His 
name in gilded letters on the walls of the dormitory still 
attests his victory over many older competitors. He 
stayed two years longer at the school, and was looking 10 
forward to a studentship at Christ Church, when an event 
happened which changed the whole course of his life. 
Howard Hastings died, bequeathing his nephew to the care 
of a friend and distant relation, named Chiswick. This 
gentleman, though he did not absolutely refuse the charge, 1 5 
was desirous to rid himself of it as soon as possible. Dr. 
Nichols made strong remonstrances against the cruelty 
of interrupting the studies of a youth who seemed likely 
to be one of the first scholars of the age. He even offered 
to bear the expense of sending his favourite pupil to 20 
Oxford. But Mr. Chiswick was inflexible. He thought 
the years which had already been wasted on hexameters 
and pentameters quite sufficient. He had it in his power 
to obtain for the lad a writership in the service of the East 
India Company. Whether the young adventurer, when 25 
once shipped off, made a fortune, or died of a liver com- 
plaint, he equally ceased to be a burden to any body. 
Warren was accordingly removed from Westminster 
school, and placed for a few months at a commercial 
academy to study arithmetic and book-keeping. In 30 
January, 1750, a few days after he had completed his 
seventeenth year, he sailed for Bengal, and arrived at 
his destination in the October following. 



lo WARREN HASTINGS 

He was immediately placed at a desk in the Secretary's 
ofl&ce at Calcutta, and laboured there during two years. 
Fort William was then a purely commercial settlement. 
In the south of India the encroaching pohcy of Dupleix 
5 had transformed the servants of the English Company, 
against their will, into diplomatists and generals. The 
war of the succession was raging in the Carnatic; and the 
tide had been suddenly turned against the French by 
the genius of young Robert Clive. But in Bengal the 

10 European settlers, at peace with the natives and with 
each other, were wholly occupied with ledgers and bills 
of lading. 

After two years passed in keeping accounts at Calcutta, 
Hastings was sent up the country to Cossimbazar, a 

15 town which lies on the Hoogley, about a mile from Moors- 
hedabad, and which then bore to Moorshedabad a rela- 
tion, if we may compare small things with great, such as 
the city of .London bears to Westminster. Moorshedabad 
was the abode of the prince who, by an authority osten- 

20 sibly derived from the Mogul, but really independent, 
ruled the three great provinces of Bengal, Orissa, and 
Bahar. At Moorshedabad were the court, the haram, and 
the public offices. Cossimbazar was a port and a place 
of trade, renowned for the quantity and excellence of 

25 the silks which were sold in its marts, and constantly 
receiving and sending forth fleets of richly laden barges. 
At this important point, the Company had estabHshed 
a small factory subordinate to that of Fort William. 
Here, during several years, Hastings was employed in 

30 making bargains for stuffs with native brokers. While 
he was thus engaged, Surajah Dowlah succeeded to the 
government, and declared war against the EngHsh. The 
defenceless settlement of Cossimbazar, lying close to the 



WARREN HASTINGS ii 

tyrant's capital, was instantly seized. Hastings was 
sent a prisoner to Moorshedabad, but, in consequence of 
the humane intervention of the servants of the Dutch 
Company, was treated with indulgence. Meanwhile the 
Nabob marched on Calcutta; the governor and the com- 5 
mandant fled; the town and citadel were taken, and most 
of the EngUsh prisoners perished in the Black Hole. 

In these events originated the greatness of Warren 
Hastings. The fugitive governor and his companions 
had taken refuge on the dreary islet of Fulda, near the 10 
mouth of the Hoogley. They were naturally desirous 
to obtain full information respecting the proceedings of 
the Nabob; and no person seemed so likely to furnish it 
as Hastings, who was a prisoner at large in the immediate 
neighbourhood of the court. He thus became a diplomatic 15 
agent, and soon established a high character for ability 
and resolution. The treason which at a later period was 
fatal to Surajah Dowlah was already in progress; and 
Hastings was admitted to the deliberations of the con- 
spirators. But the time for striking had not arrived. 20 
It was necessary to postpone the execution of the design; 
and Hastings, who was now in extreme peril, fled to Fulda. 

Soon after his arrival at Fulda, the expedition from 
Madras, commanded by Clive, appeared in the Hoogley. 
Warren, young, intrepid, and excited probably by the 25 
example of the Commander of the Forces who, having like 
himself been a mercantile agent of the Company, had been 
turned by public calamities into a soldier, determined to 
serve in the ranks. During the early operations of the 
war he carried a musket. But the quick eye of Clive 30 
soon perceived that the head of the young volunteer would 
be more useful than his arm. When, after the battle of 
Plassey, Meer Jafher was proclaimed Nabob of Bengal, 



12 WARREN HASTINGS 

Hastings was appointed to reside at the court of the new 
prince as agent for the Company. 

He remained at Moorshedabad till the year 1761, when 
he became a member of Council, and was consequently 
5 forced to reside at Calcutta. This was during the inter- 
val between Clive's first and second administration, an 
interval which has left on the fame of the East India 
Company a stain, not wholly effaced by many years 
of just and humane government. Mr. Vansittart, the 

10 Governor, was at the head of a new and anomalous 
empire. On the one side was a band of English func- 
tionaries, daring, intelligent, eager to be rich. On the 
other side was a great native population, helpless, timid, 
accustomed to crouch under oppression. To keep the 

15 stronger race from preying on the weaker was an under- 
taking which tasked to the utmost the talents and energy 
of Clive. Vansittart, with fair intentions, was a feeble 
and inefficient ruler. The master caste, as was natural, 
broke loose from all restraint; and then was seen what 

20 we believe to be the most frightful of all spectacles, the 
strength of civilisation without its mercy. To all other 
despotism there is a check, imperfect indeed, and liable 
to gross abuse, but still sufficient to preserve society from 
the last extreme of misery. A time comes when the evils 

25 of submission are obviously greater than those of resist- 
ance, when fear itself begets a sort of courage, when a 
convulsive burst of popular rage and despair warns 
tyrants not to presume too far on the patience of man- 
kind. But against misgovernment such as then afflicted 

30 Bengal it was impossible to struggle. The superior intel- 
ligence and energy of the dominant class made their 
power irresistible. A war of Bengalees against English- 
men was like a war of sheep against wolves, of men 



WARREN HASTINGS 13 

against daemons. The only protection which the con- 
quered could find was in the moderation, the clemency, 
the enlarged pohcy of the conquerors. That protection, 
at a later period, they found. iBut at first Enghsh power 
came among them unaccompanied by Enghsh morahty, 5 
There was an interval between the time at which they 
became our subjects, and the time at which we began 
to reflect that we were bound to discharge towards them 
the duties of rulers./ During that interval the business of 
a servant of the Company was simply to wring out of the 10 
natives a hundred or two hundred thousand pounds as 
speedily as possible, that he might return home before his 
constitution had suffered from the heat, to marry a peer's 
daughter, to buy rotten boroughs in Cornwall, and to give 
balls in St. James's Square. Of the conduct of Hastings 15 
at this time, httle is known; but the little that is known, 
and the circumstance that Uttle is known, must be con- 
sidered as honourable to him. He could not protect the 
natives : all that he could do was to abstain from plunder- 
ing and oppressing them; and this he appears to have 20 
done. It is certain that at this time he continued poor; 
and it is equally certain, that by cruelty and dishonesty 
he might easily have become rich. It is certain that he 
was never charged with having borne a share in the worst 
abuses which then prevailed; and it is almost equally cer- 25 
tain that, if he had borne a share in those abuses, the able 
and bitter enemies who afterwards persecuted him would 
not have failed to discover and to proclaim his guilt. 
The keen, severe, and even malevolent scrutiny to which 
his whole public Hfe was subjected, a scrutiny unparalleled, 30 
as we beheve, in the history of mankind, is in one respect 
advantageous to his reputation. It brought many lament- 
able blemishes to light; but it entitles him to be considered 



14 WARREN HASTINGS 

pure from every blemish which has not been brought to 
hght. 

The truth is that the temptations to which so many 
EngHsh functionaries yielded in the time of Mr. Vansittart 
5 were not temptations addressed to the ruling passions 
of Warren Hastings. He was not squeamish in pecuni- 
ary transactions; but he was neither sordid nor rapacious. 
He was far too enlightened a man to look on a great 
empire merely as a buccaneer would look on a galleon. 

10 Had his heart been much w^orse than it was, his under- 
standing would have preserved him from that extremity 
of baseness. He was an unscrupulous, perhaps an un- 
principled statesman; but still he was a statesman, and 
not a freebooter. / 

15 In 1764 Hastings returned to England. He had real- 
ized only a very moderate fortune; and that moderate 
fortune was soon reduced to nothing, partly by his praise- 
worthy liberality, and partly by his mismanagement. 
Towards his relations he appears to have acted very 

20 generously. The greater part of his savings he left in 

Bengal, hoping probably to obtain the high usury of 

India. But high usury and bad security generally go 

together; and Hastings lost both interest and principal. 

He remained four years in England. Of his life at this 

25 time very little is known. But it has been asserted, and is 
highly probable, that liberal studies and the society of 
men of letters occupied a great part of his time. It is 
to be remembered to his honour, that in days when the 
languages of the East were regarded by other servants 

30 of the Company merely as the means of communicating 

[with weavers and money-changers, his enlarged and 

accomphshed mind sought in Asiatic learning for new 

forms of intellectual enjoyment, and for new views of 



WARREN HASTINGS 15 

government and society. Perhaps, like most persons 
who have paid much attention to departments of knowl- 
edge which He out of the common track, he was inclined 
to overrate the value of his favourite studies. He con- 
ceived that the cultivation of Persian literature might 5 
with advantage be made a part of the liberal education of 
an EngHsh gentleman; and he drew up a plan with that 
view. It is said that the University of Oxford, in which 
Oriental learning had never, since the revival of letters, 
been wholly neglected, was to be the seat of the insti- 10 
tution which he contemplated. An endowment was 
expected from the munificence of the Company; and 
professors thoroughly competent to interpret Hafiz and 
Ferdusi were to be engaged in the East. Hastings called 
on Johnson, with the hope, as it should seem, of interesting 15 
in this project a man who enjoyed the highest literary 
reputation, and who was particularly connected with 
Oxford. The interview appears to have left on Johnson's 
mind a most favourable impression of the talents and 
attainments of his visitor. Long after, when Hastings 20 
was ruling the immense population of British India, the 
old philosopher wrote to him, and referred in the most 
courtly terms, though with great dignity, to their short 
but agreeable intercourse. 

Hastings soon began to look again towards India. He 25 
had httle to attach him to England; and his pecuniary 
embarrassments were great. He solicited his old masters 
the Directors for employment. They acceded to his 
request, with high compliments both to his abihties and 
to his integrity, and appointed him a Member of Council 30 
at Madras. It would be unjust not to mention that, 
though forced to borrow money for his outfit, he did not 
withdraw any portion of the sum which he had appro- 



l6 WARREN HASTINGS 

priated to the relief of his distressed relations. In the 
spring of 1769 he embarked on board of the Duke of 
Grafton, and commenced a voyage distinguished by 
incidents which might furnish matter for a novel. 
5 Among the passengers in the Duke of Grafton was a 
German of the name of Imhoff. He called himself a 
baron; but he was in distressed circumstances, and was 
going out to Madras as a portrait-painter, in the hope of 
picking up some of the pagodas which were then lightly 

10 got and as lightly spent by the English in India. The 
baron was accompanied by his wife, a native, we have 
somewhere read, of Archangel. This young woman who, 
born under the Arctic circle, was destined to play the 
part of a Queen under the tropic of Cancer, had an agree- 

15 able person, a cultivated mind, and manners in the 
highest degree engaging. She despised her husband 
heartily, and, as the story which we have to tell sufh- 
ciently proves, not without reason. She was interested 
by the conversation and flattered by the attentions of 

20 Hastings. The situation was indeed perilous. No place 
is so propitious to the formation either of close friendships 
or of deadly enmities as an Indiaman. There are very 
few people who do not find a voyage which lasts several 
months insupportably dull. Anything is welcome which 

25 may break that long monotony, a sail, a shark, an alba- 
tross, a man overboard. Most passengers find some 
resource in eating twice as many meals as on land. But 
the great devices for killing the time are quarrelling and 
flirting. The facilities for both these exciting pursuits 

30 are great. The inmates of the ship are thrown together 
far more than in any country-seat or boarding-house. 
None can escape from the rest except by imprisoning 
himself in a cell in which he can hardly turn. All food, 



WARREN HASTINGS 



T7 



all exercise, is taken in company. Ceremony is to a great 
extent banished. It is every day in the power of a mis- 
chievous person to inflict innumerable annoyances; it is 
every day in the power of an amiable person to confer 
little services. It not seldom happens that serious distress 5 
and danger call forth in genuine beauty and deformity 
heroic virtues and abject vices which, in the ordinary 
intercourse of good society, might remain during many 
3'ears unknown even to intimate associates. Under such 
circumstances met Warren Hastings and the Baroness 10 
Imhoff, two persons whose accomplishments would have 
attracted notice in any court of Europe. The gentleman 
had no domestic ties. The lady was tied to a husband 
for whom she had no regard, and who had no regard for 
his own honour. An attachment sprang up, which was 15 
soon strengthened by events such as could hardly have 
occurred on land. Hastings fell ill. The baroness nursed 
him with womanly tenderness, gave him his medicines 
with her own hand, and even sat up in his cabin while he 
slept. Long before the Duke of Grafton reached Madras, 20 
Hastings was in love. But his love was of a most charac- 
teristic description. Like his hatred, like his ambition, 
like all his passions, it was strong, but not impetuous. It 
was calm, deep, earnest, patient of delay, unconquerable 
by time. Imhoff was called into council by his wife and 25 
his wife's lover. It was arranged that the baroness should 
institute a suit for a divorce in the courts of Franconia, 
that the baron should afford every facility to the proceed- 
ing, and that, during the years which might elapse before 
the sentence should be pronounced, they should continue 30 
to live together. It w^as also agreed that Hastings should 
bestow some very substantial marks of gratitude on the 
complaisant husband, and should, when the marriage was 
3 



1 8 WARREN HASTINGS 

dissolved, make the lady his wife, and adopt the children 
whom she had already borne to Imhoff . 

We are not inclined to judge either Hastings or the 
baroness severely. There was undoubtedly much to 
5 extenuate their fault. But we can by no means concur 
with the Reverend Mr. Gleig, who carries his partiality 
to so injudicious an extreme as to describe the conduct 
of Imhoff, conduct the baseness of which is the best excuse 
for the lovers, as ''wise and judicious." 

10 At Madras, Hastings found the trade of the Company 
in a very disorganised state. His own tastes would have 
led him rather to poHtical than to commercial pursuits: 
but he knew that the favour of his employers depended 
chiefly on their dividends, and that their dividends de- 

1 5 pended chiefly on the investment. He therefore, with great 
judgment, determined to apply his vigorous mind for a 
time to this department of business, which had been much 
neglected, since the servants of the Company had ceased 
to be clerks, and had become warriors and negotiators. 

20 In a very few months he effected an important reform. 
The Directors notified to him their high approbation, 
and were so much pleased with his conduct that they 
determined to place him at the head of the government 
of Bengal. Early in 1772 he quitted Fort St. George for 

25 his new post. The Imhoff s, who were still man and wife, 
accompanied him, and lived at Calcutta "on the same 
wise and- judicious plan," — we quote the words of Mr. 
Gleig, — which they had already followed during more 
than two years. 

30 When Hastings took his seat at the head of the council- 
board, Bengal was still governed according to the system 
which CHve had devised, a system which was, perhaps, 
skilfully contrived for the purpose of faciUtating and 



WARREN HASTINGS 19 

concealing a great revolution, but which, when that revo- 
lution was complete and irrevocable, could produce 
nothing but inconvenience. There were two govern- 
ments, the real and the ostensible. The supreme power 
belonged to the Company, and was in truth the most 5 
despotic power that can be conceived. The only restraint 
on the English masters of the country was that which their 
own justice and humanity imposed on them. There was 
no constitutional check on their will, and resistance to 
them was utterly hopeless. 10 

But, though thus absolute in reality, the English had 
not yet assumed the style of sovereignty. They held their 
territories as vassals of the throne of Delhi; they raised 
their revenues as collectors appointed by the imperial 
commission; their public seal was inscribed with the im- 15 
perial titles; and their mint struck only the imperial coin. 

There was still a nabob of Bengal, who stood to the 
English rulers of his country in the same relation in which 
Augustulus stood to Odoacer, or the last Merovingians 
to Charles Martel and Pepin. He lived at Moorshedabad, 20 
surrounded by princely magnificence. He was approached 
with outward marks of reverence, and his name was used 
in public instruments. But in the government of the 
country he had less real share than the youngest writer 
or cadet in the Company's service. 25 

The English council which represented the Company 
at Calcutta was constituted on a very different plan from 
that which has since been adopted. At present the Gov- 
ernor is, as to all executive measures, absolute. He can 
declare war, conclude peace, appoint public functionaries 30 
or remove them, in opposition to the unanimous sense of 
those who sit with him in council. They are, indeed, 
entitled to know all that is done, to discuss all that is done, 



20 WARREN HASTINGS 

to advise, to remonstrate, to send protests to England. 
But it is with the Governor that the supreme power 
resides, and on him that the whole responsibihty rests. 
This system, which was introduced by Mr. Pitt and Mr. 
5 Dundas in spite of the strenuous opposition of Mr. Burke, 
we conceive to be on the whole the best that was ever 
devised for the government of a country where no ma- 
terials can be found for a representative constitution. 
In the time of Hastings the governor had only one vote 

lo in council, and, in case of an equal division, a casting vote. 
It therefore happened not unfrequently that he was over- 
ruled on the gravest questions; and it was possible that 
he might be wholly excluded, for years together, from the 
real direction of public affairs. 

15 The English functionaries at Fort William had as yet 
paid little or no attention to the internal government of 
Bengal. The only branch of politics about which they 
much busied themselves was negotiation with the native 
princes. The police, the administration of justice, the 

20 details of the collection of revenue they almost entirely 
neglected. We may remark that the phraseology of the 
Company's servants still bears the traces of this state 
of things. To this day they always use the word "poUti- 
cal" as synonymous with ''diplomatic." We could 

25 name a gentleman still living who was described by the 
highest authority as an invaluable public servant, emi- 
nently fit to be at the head of the internal administration 
of a whole presidency, but unfortunately quite ignorant 
of all political business. 

30 The internal government of Bengal the EngHsh rulers 
delegated to a great native minister, who was stationed at 
Moorshedabad. All military affairs, and, with the excep- 
tion of what pertains to mere ceremonial, all foreign 



WARREN HASTINGS 21 

affairs, were withdrawn from his control; but the other 
departments of the administration were entirely confided 
to him. His own stipend amounted to near a hundred 
thousand pounds sterHng a year. The personal allowance 
of the nabobs, amounting to more than three hun- 5 
dred thousand pounds a year, passed through the minis- 
ter's hands, and was, to a great extent, at his disposal. 
The collection of the revenue, the administration of jus- 
tice, the maintenance of order, were left to this high func- 
tionary; and for the exercise of his immense power he was 10 
responsible to none but the British masters of the 
country. 

A situation so important, lucrative, and splendid, was 
naturally an object of ambition to the ablest and most 
powerful natives. Clive had found it difficult to decide 15 
between conflicting pretensions. Two candidates stood 
out prominently from the crowd, each of them the repre- 
sentative of a race and of a religion. 

The one was Mahommed Reza Khan, a Mussulman of 
Persian extraction, able, active, religious after the fashion 20 
of his people, and highly esteemed by them. In England 
he might perhaps have been regarded as a corrupt and 
greedy poUtician. But, tried by the lower standard of 
Indian moraUty, he might be considered as a man of 
integrity and honour. 25 

His competitor was a Hindoo Brahmin whose name 
has, by a terrible and melancholy event, been inseparably 
associated with that of Warren Hastings, the Maharajah 
Nuncomar. This man had played an important part in 
all the revolutions which, since the time of Surajah 30 
Dowlah, had taken place in Bengal. To the considera- 
tion which in that country belongs to high and pure caste, 
he added the weight which is derived from wealth, talents. 



22 WARREN HASTINGS 

and experience. Of his moral character it is difficult to 
give a notion to those who are acquainted with human 
nature only as it appears in our island. What the Itahan 
is to the Englishman, what the Hindoo is to the Italian, 
5 what the Bengalee is to othqr Hindoos, that was Nun- 
comar to other Bengalees. The physical organization of 
the Bengalee is feeble even to effeminacy. He lives in a 
constant vapour bath. His pursuits are sedentary, his 
hmbs deHcate, his movements languid. During many 

10 ages he has been trampled upon by men of bolder and 
more hardy breeds. Courage, independence, veracity, 
are qualities to which his constitution and his situation 
are equally unfavourable. His mind bears a singular 
analogy to his body. It is weak even to helplessness, 

15 for purposes of manly resistance; but its suppleness and 
its tact move the children of sterner climates to admira- 
tion not unmingled with contempt. All those arts which 
are the natural defence of the weak are more familiar 
to this subtle race than to the Ionian of the time of Juve- 

20 nal, or to the Jew of the dark ages. What the horns are 
to the buffalo, what the paw is to the tiger, what the 
sting is to the bee, what beauty, according to the old 
Greek song, is to woman, deceit is to the Bengalee. Large 
promises, smooth excuses, elaborate tissues of circum- 

25 stantial falsehood, chicanery, perjury, forgery, are the 
weapons, offensive and defensive, of the people of the 
Lower Ganges. All those milhons do not furnish one 
sepoy to the armies of the Company. But as usurers, 
as money-changers, as sharp legal practitioners, no class 

30 of human beings can bear a comparison with them. 
With all his softness, the Bengalee is by no means placable 
in his enmities or prone to pity. The pertinacity with 
which he adheres to his purposes yields only to the imme- 



WARREN HASTINGS 2^ 

diate pressure of fear. Nor does he lack a certain kind 
of courage which is often wanting in his masters. To 
inevitable evils he is sometimes found to oppose a passive 
fortitude, such as the Stoics attributed to their ideal sage. 
An European warrior who rushes on a battery of cannon 5 
with a loud hurrah will sometimes shriek under the sur- 
geon's knife, and fall into an agony of despair at the sen- 
tence of death. But the Bengalee who would see his 
country overrun, his house laid in ashes, his children mur- 
dered or dishonoured, without having the spirit to strike 10 
one blow, has yet been known to endure torture with the 
firmness of Mucins, and to mount the scaffold with the 
steady step and even pulse of Algernon Sydney. 

In Nuncomar, the national character was strongly and 
with exaggeration personified. The Company's servants 15 
had repeatedly detected him in the most criminal intrigues. 
On one occasion he brought a false charge against another 
Hindoo, and tried to substantiate it by producing forged 
documents. On another occasion it was discovered that 
while professing the strongest attachment to the Enghsh, 20 
he was engaged in several conspiracies against them, and 
in particular that he was the medium of a correspondence 
between the court of Delhi and the French authorities 
in the Carnatic. For these and similar practices he had 
been long detained in confinement. But his talents and 25 
influence had not only procured his liberation, but had 
obtained for him a certain degree of consideration even 
among the British rulers of his country. 

Clive was extremely unwilling to place a Mussulman 
at the head of the administration of Bengal. On the 30 
other hand, he could not bring himself to confer immense 
power on a man to whom every sort of villany. had 
repeatedly been brought home. Therefore, though the 



24 WARREN HASTINGS 

nabob, over whom Nuncomar had by intrigue acquired 
great influence, begged that the artful Hindoo might be 
intrusted with the government, CUve, after some hesita- 
tion, decided honestly and wisely in favour of Mahommed 
5 Reza Khan, who had held his high office seven years 
when Hastings became Governor. An infant son of 
Meer Jaffier was now nabob; and the guardianship of the 
young prince's person had been confided to the minister. 
Nuncomar, stimulated at once by cupidity and malice, 

10 had been constantly attempting to undermine his suc- 
cessful rival. This was not difficult. The revenues of 
Bengal, under the administration established by Clive, 
did not yield such a surplus as had been anticipated by 
the Company; for, at that time, the most absurd notions 

15 were entertained in England respecting the wealth of 
India. Palaces of porphyry, hung with the richest 
brocade, heaps of pearls and diamonds, vaults from which 
pagodas and gold mohurs were measured out by the 
bushel, filled the imagination even of men of business. 

20 Nobody seemed to be aware of what nevertheless was 
most undoubtedly the truth, that India was a poorer 
country than countries which in Europe are reckoned 
poor, than Ireland, for example, or than Portugal. It 
was confidently believed by lords of the treasury and 

25 members for the city that Bengal would. not only defray 
its own charges, but would afford an increased dividend 
to the proprietors of India stock, and large relief to the 
English finances. These absurd expectations were dis- 
appointed; and the directors, naturally enough, chose 

30 to attribute the disappointment rather to the mismanage- 
ment of Mahommed Reza Khan than to their own 
ignorance of the country intrusted to their care. They 
were confirmed in their error by the agents of Nuncomar; 



WARREN HASTINGS 25 

for Nuncomar had agents even in Leadenhall Street. 
Soon after Hastings reached Calcutta, he received a letter 
addressed by the Court of Directors, not to the Council 
generally, but to himself in particular. He was directed 
to remove Mahommed Reza Khan, to arrest him, together 5 
with all his family and all his partisans, and to institute 
a strict inquiry into the whole administration of the 
province. It was added that the Governor would do 
well to avail himself of the assistance of Nuncomar in the 
investigation. The vices of Nuncomar were acknowl- 10 
edged. But even from his vices, it was said, much advan- 
tage might at such a conjuncture be derived; and, though 
he could not safely be trusted, it might still be proper 
to^LCOurage him by hopes of reward, 
j^^he Governor bore no good will to Nuncomar. Many 15 
years before, they had known each other at Moors- 
hedabad; and then a quarrel had risen between them 
which all the authority of their superiors could hardly 
compose. Widely as they differed in most points, they 
resembled each other in this, that both were men of unfor- 20 
giving natures. To Mahommed Reza Khan, on the other 
hand, Hastings had no feehngs of hostiUty. Neverthe- 
less he proceeded to execute the instructions of the Com- 
pany with an alacrity which he never showed, except w^hen 
instructions were in perfect conformity with his own views. 25 
He had, wisely as we think, determined to get rid of the 
system of double government in Bengal. The orders of 
the directors furnished him with the means of effecting 
his purpose, and dispensed him from the necessity of dis- 
cussing the matter with his Council. He took his meas- 30 
ures with his usual vigour and dexterity. At midnight, 
the palace of Mahommed Reza Khan at Moorshedabad 
was surrounded by a battalion of sepoys. The minister 



26 WARREN HASTINGS 

was roused from his slumbers, and informed that he was 
a prisoner. With the Mussulman gravity, he bent his 
head and submitted himself to the will of God. He 
fell not alone. A chief named Schitab Roy had been 
5 intrusted with the government of Bahar. His valour and 
his attachment to the English had more than once been 
signally proved. On that memorable day on which the 
people of Patna saw from their walls the whole army of 
the Mogul scattered by the little band of Captain Knox, 

10 the voice of the British conquerors assigned the palm of 
gallantry to the brave Asiatic. "I never," said Knox, 
when he introduced Schitab Roy, covered with blood 
and dust, to the English functionaries assembled in the 
factory, "I never saw a native fight so before." Schitab 

15 Roy was involved in the ruin of Mahommed Reza Khan, 
was removed from office, and was placed under arrest. 
The members of the Council received no intimation of 
these measures till the prisoners were on their road to 
Calcutta. I 

20 The inquiry into the conduct of the minister was 
postponed on different pretences. He was detained in 
an easy confinement during many months. In the mean 
time, the great revolution which Hastings had planned 
was carried into effect. The office of minister was abol- 

25 ished. The internal administration was transferred to 
the servants of the Company. A system, a very imper- 
fect system, it is true, of civil and criminal justice, under 
English superintendence, was established. The nabob 
was no longer to have even an ostensible share in the 

30 government; but he was still to receive a considerable 
annual allowance, and to be surrounded with the state 
of sovereignty. As he was an infant, it was necessary 
to provide guardians for his person and property. His 



WARREN HASTINGS 



27 



person was intrusted to a lady of his father's haram, 
known by the name of the Munny Begum. The of&ce 
of treasurer of the household was bestowed on a son of 
Nuncomar, named Goordas. Nuncomar's services were 
wanted, yet he could not safely be trusted with power; 5 
and Hastings thought it a masterstroke of policy to 
reward the able and unprincipled parent by promoting 
the inoffensive child. 

The revolution completed, the double government 
dissolved, the Company installed in the full sovereignty ic 
of Bengal, Hastings had no motive to treat the late minis- 
ters with rigour. Their trial had been put off on various 
pleas till the new organization was complete. They 
were then brought before a committee, over which the 
Governor presided. Schitab Roy was speedily acquitted 15 
with honour. A formal apology was made to him for 
the restraint to which he had been subjected. All the 
Eastern marks of respect were bestowed on him. He 
was clothed in a robe of state, presented with jewels and 
with a richly harnessed elephant, and sent back to his 20 
government at Patna. But his health had suffered from 
confinement; his high spirit had been cruelly wounded; 
and soon after his liberation he died of a broken heart. 

The innocence of Mahommed Reza Khan was not so 
clearly estabhshed. But the Governor was not disposed 25 
to deal harshly. After a long hearing, in which Nuncomar 
appeared as the accuser, and displayed both the art and 
the inveterate rancour which distinguished him, Hastings 
pronounced that the charges had not been made out, and 
ordered the fallen minister to be set at liberty. 3c 

Nuncomar had purposed to destroy the Mussulman 
administration, and to rise on its ruin. Both his malevo- 
lence and his cupidity had been disappointed. Hastings 



28 WARREN HASTINGS 

had made him a tool, had used him for the purpose of 
accomplishing the transfer of the government from 
Moorshedabad to Calcutta, from native to European 
hands. The rival, the enemy, so long envied, so impla- 
5 cably persecuted, had been dismissed unhurt. The situa- 
tion so long and ardently desired had been abolished. It 
was natural that the Governor should be from that time 
an object of the most intense hatred to the vindictive 
Brahmin. As yet, however, it was necessary to suppress 

10 such feelings. The time was coming when that long 

animosity was to end in a desperate and deadly struggle. 

In the meantime, Hastings was compelled to turn his 

attention to foreign affairs. The object of his diplomacy 

was at this time simply to get money. The finances of 

15 his government were in an embarrassed state; and this 
embarrassment he was determined to relieve by some 
means, fair or foul. The principle which directed all 
his deahngs with his neighbours is fully expressed by 
the old motto of one of the great predatory famihes of 

20 Teviotdale, ''Thou shalt want ere I want." He seems 
to have laid it down, as a fundamental proposition which 
could not be disputed, that, when he had not as many 
lacs of rupees as the public service required, he was to 
take them from any body who had. One thing, indeed, 

25 is to be said in excuse for him. The pressure apphed 
to him by his employers at home was such as only the 
highest virtue could have withstood, such as left him no 
choice except to commit great wrongs, or to resign his 
high post, and with that post all his hopes of fortune and 

30 distinction. The directors, it is true, never enjoined or 
applauded any crime. Far from it. Whoever examines 
their letters written at that time will find there many 
just and humane sentiments; many excellent precepts, 



WARREN HASTINGS 29 

in short, an admirable code of political ethics. But 
every exhortation is modified or nullified by a demand 
for money. "Govern leniently, and send more money; 
practise strict justice and moderation towards neighbour- 
ing powers, and send more money"; this is in truth the 5 
sum of almost all the instructions that Hastings ever 
received from home. Now these instructions, being inter- 
preted, mean simply, ^'Be the father and the oppressor of 
the people; be just and unjust, moderate and rapacious." 
The directors dealt with India, as the church, in the good 10 
old times, dealt with a heretic. They delivered the victim 
over to the executioners, with an earnest request that all 
possible tenderness might be shown. We by no means 
accuse or suspect those who framed these despatches of 
hypocrisy. It is probable that, writing fifteen thousand 15 
miles from the place where their orders were to be carried 
into effect, they never perceived the gross inconsistency 
of which they were guilty. But the inconsistency was at 
once manifest to their lieutenant at Calcutta, who, with an 
empty treasury, with an unpaid army, with his own salary 20 
often in arrear, with deficient crops, with government 
tenants daily running away, was called upon to remit 
home another half million without fail. Hastings saw 
that it was absolutely necessary for him to disregard either 
the moral discourses or the pecuniary requisitions of his 25 
employers. Being forced to disobey them in something, 
he had to consider what kind of disobedience they would 
most readily pardon; and he correctly judged that the 
safest course would be to neglect the sermons and to find 
the rupees. 30 

A mind so fertile as his, and so little restrained by con- 
scientious scruples, speedily discovered several modes 
of reUeving the financial embarrassments of the govern- 



30 WARREN HASTINGS 

merit. The allowance of the Nabob of Bengal was reduced 
at a stroke from three hundred and twenty thousand 
pounds a year to half that sum. The Company had 
bound itself to pay near three hundred thousand pounds 
5 a year to the great Mogul, as a mark of homage for the 
provinces which he had intrusted to their care; and they 
had ^eded to him the districts of Corah and Allahabad. 
On the plea that the Mogul was not really independent, 
but merely a tool in the hands of others, Hastings deter- 

10 mined to retract these concessions. He accordingly 
declared that the English would pay no more tribute, 
and sent troops to occupy Allahabad and Corah. The 
situation of these places was such, that there would be 
little advantage and great expense in retaining them.. 

15 Hastings, who wanted money and not territory, deter- 

^ mined to sell them. A purchaser was not wanting. 

The rich province of Oude had, in the general dissolution 

of the Mogul Empire, fallen to the share of the great 

Mussulman house by which it is still governed. About 

20 twenty years ago, this house, by the permission of the 
British government, assumed the royal title; but, in the 
time of Warren Hastings, such an assumption would 
have been considered by the Mahommedans of India 
as a monstrous impiety. The Prince of Oude, though 

25 he held the power, did not venture to use the style of 
sovereignty. To the appellation of Nabob or Viceroy, 
he added that of Vizier of the monarchy of Hindostan, 
just as in the last century the Electors of Saxony and 
Brandenburg, though independent of the Emperor, and 

30 often in arms against him, were proud to style themselves 
his Grand Chamberlain and Grand Marshal. Sujah 
Dowlah, then Nabob Vizier, was on excellent terms with 
the English. He had a large treasure. Allahabad and 



WARREN HASTINGS 31 

Corah were so situated that they might be of use to him 
and could be of none to the Company. The buyer and 
seller soon came to an understanding; and the provinces 
which had been torn from the Mogul were made over to 
the government of Oude for about half a million sterling. 5 

But there was another matter still more important to 
be settled by the Vizier and the Governor. The fate of 
a brave people was to be decided. It was decided in a 
manner which has left a lasting stain on the fame of 
Hastings and of England. 10 

The people of Central Asia had always been to the 
inhabitants of India what the warriors of the German 
forests were to the subjects of the decaying monarchy 
of Rome. The dark, slender, and timid Hindoo shrank 
from a conflict with the strong muscle and resolute spirit 15 
of the fair race, which dwelt beyond the passes. There 
is reason to believe that, at a period anterior to the dawn 
of regular history, the people who spoke the rich and 
flexible Sanscrit came from regions lying far beyond the 
Hyphasis and the Hystaspes, and imposed their yoke 20 
on the children of the soil. It is certain that, during the 
last ten centuries, a succession of invaders descended from 
the west on Hindostan; nor was the course of conquest 
ever turned back towards the setting sun, till that memo- 
rable campaign in which the cross of Saint George was 25 
planted on the walls of Ghizni. 

The Emperors of Hindostan themselves came from the 
other side of the great mountain ridge; and it had always 
been their practice to recruit their army from the hardy 
and valiant race from which their own illustrious house 30 
sprang. Among the military adventurers who were allured 
to the Mogul standards from the neighbourhood of Cabul 
and Candahar, were conspicuous several gallant bands, 



32 WARREN HASTINGS 

known by the name of the Rohillas. Their services had 
been rewarded with large tracts of land, fiefs of the spear, 
if we may use an expression drawn from an analogous 
state of things, in that fertile plain through which the 
5 Ramgunga flows from the snowy heights of Kumaon to 
join the Ganges. In the general confusion which fol- 
lowed the death of Aurungzebe, the warlike colony 
became virtually independent. The Rohillas were dis- 
tinguished from the other inhabitants of India by a 

lo peculiarly fair complexion. They were more honour- 
ably distinguished by courage in war, and by skill in the 
arts of peace. While anarchy raged from Lahore to 
Cape Comorin, their little territory enjoyed the blessings 
of repose under the guardianship of valour. Agriculture 

15 and commerce flourished among them; nor were they 
negligent of rhetoric and poetry. Many persons now 
living have heard aged men talk with regret of the golden 
days when the Afghan princes ruled in the vale of Rohil- 
cund. 

20 Sujah Dowlah had set his heart on adding this rich 
district to his own principality. Right, or show of right, 
he had absolutely none. His claim was in no respect 
better founded than that of Catherine to Poland, or that 
of the Bonaparte family to Spain. The Rohillas held 

25 their country by exactly the same title by which he held 
his, and had governed their country far better than his 
had ever been governed. Nor were they a people whom 
it was perfectly safe to attack. Their land was indeed 
an open plain, destitute of natural defences; but their 

30 veins were full of the high blood of Afghanistan. As 
soldiers, they had not the steadiness which is seldom 
found except in company with strict discipline; but their 
impetuous valour had been proved on many fields of battle. 



WARREN HASTINGS 33 

It was said that their chiefs, when united by common 
peril, could bring eighty thousand men into the field. 
Sujah Dowlah had himself seen them fight, and wisely 
shrank from a conflict with them. There was in India 
one army, and only one, against which even those proud 5 
Caucasian tribes could not stand. It had been abun- 
dantly proved that neither tenfold odds, nor the martial 
ardour of the boldest Asiatic nations, could avail aught 
against English science and resolution. Was it possible 
to induce the Governor of Bengal to let out to hire the 10 
irresistible energies of the imperial people, the skill 
against which the ablest chiefs of Hindostan were help- 
less as infants, the discipline which had so often triumphed 
over the frantic struggles of fanaticism and despair, the 
unconquerable British courage which is never so sedate 15 
and stubborn as towards the close of a doubtful and 
murderous day? 

This was what the Nabob Vizier asked, and what 
Hastings granted. A bargain was soon struck. Each 
of the negotiators had what the other wanted. Hastings 20 
was in need of funds to carry on the government of 
Bengal, and to send remittances to London; and Sujah 
Dowlah had an ample revenue. Sujah Dowlah was bent 
on subjugating the Rohillas; and Hastings had at his 
disposal the only force by which the Rohillas could be 25 
subjugated. It was agreed that an English army should 
be lent to the Nabob Vizier, and that, for the loan, he 
should pay four hundred thousand pounds sterling, 
besides defraying all the charge of the troops while 
employed in his service. 30 

"I really cannot see," says the Reverend Mr. Gleig, 
^'upon what grounds, either of political or moral justice, 
this proposition deserves to be stigmatized as infamous." 
4 



34 WARREN HASTINGS 

If we understand the meaning of words, it is infamous 
to commit a wicked action for hire, and it is wicked to 
engage in war without provocation. In this particular 
war, scarcely one aggravating circumstance was wanting. 
5 The object of the Rohilla war was this, to deprive a larger 
population, who had never done us the least harm, of a 
good government, and to place them, against their will, 
under an execrably bad one. Nay, even this is not all. 
England now descended far below the level even of those 

lo petty German princes who, about the same time, sold us 
troops to fight the Americans. The hussar-mongers of 
Hesse and Anspach had at least the assurance that the 
expeditions on which their soldiers were to be employed 
would be conducted in conformity with the humane 

15 rules of civilised warfare. Was the Rohilla war likely 
to be so conducted? Did the Governor stipulate that it 
should be so conducted? He well knew what Indian war- 
fare was. He well knew that the power which he cove- 
nanted to put into Sujah Dowlah's hands would, in all 

20 probabiHty, be atrociously abused; and he required no 
guarantee, no promise that it should not be so abused. 
He did not even reserve to himself the right of with- 
drawing his aid in case of abuse, however gross. Mr. 
Gleig repeats Major Scott's absurd plea, that Hastings 

25 was justified in letting out English troops to slaughter 
the Rohillas, because the Rohillas were not of Indian 
race, but a colony from a distant country. W^hat were 
the English themselves? Was it for them to proclaim a 
crusade for the expulsion of all intruders from the coun- 

30 tries watered by the Ganges? Did it lie in their mouths 
to contend that a foreign settler who establishes an 
empire in India is a caput lupinum ? What would they 
have said if any other power had, on such a ground, 



WARREN HASTINGS 35 

attacked Madras or Calcutta, without the slightest provo- 
cation? Such a defence was wanting to make the infamy 
of the transaction complete. The atrocity of the crime, 
and the hypocrisy of the apology, are worthy of each 
other. . 5 

One of the three brigades of which the Bengal army 
consisted was sent under Colonel Champion to join Sujah 
Dowlah's forces. The Rohillas expostulated, entreated, 
offered a large ransom, but in vain. They then resolved 
to defend themselves to the last. A bloody battle was 10 
fought. "The enemy," says Colonel Champion, "gave 
proof of a good share of military knowledge; and it is 
impossible to describe a more obstinate firmness of reso- 
lution than they displayed." The dastardly sovereign 
of Oude fled from the field. The English were left unsup- 15' 
ported; but their fire and their charge were irresistible. 
It was not, however, till the most distinguished chiefs 
had fallen, fighting bravely at the head of their troops, 
that the Rohilla ranks gave way. Then the Nabob 
Vizier and his rabble made their appearance, and hastened 20 
to plunder the camp of the valiant enemies, whom they 
had never dared to look in the face. The soldiers of the 
Company, trained in an exact discipline, kept unbroken 
order, while the tents were pillaged by these worthless 
allies. But many voices were heard to exclaim, "We 25 
have had all the fighting, and those rogues are to have all 
the profit." 

Then the horrors of Indian war were let loose on the 
fair valleys and cities of Rohilcund. The whole country 
was in a blaze. More than a hundred thousand people 30 
fled from their homes to pestilential jungles, preferring 
famine, and fever, and the haunts of tigers, to the tyranny 
of him, to whom an English and a Christian government 



36 WARREN HASTINGS 

had, for shameful lucre, sold their substance, and their 
blood, and the honour of their wives and daughters. 
Colonel Champion remonstrated with the Nabob Vizier, 
and sent strong representations to Fort William; but the 
5 Governor had made no conditions as to the mode in 
which the war was to be carried on. He had troubled 
himself about nothing but his forty lacs; and, though 
he might disapprove of Sujah Dowlah's wanton bar- 
barity, he did not think himself entitled to interfere, 

10 except by offering advice. This delicacy excites the 
admiration of the reverend biographer. ''Mr. Hastings," 
he says, "could not himself dictate to the Nabob, nor 
permit the commander of the Company's troops to dic- 
tate how the war was to be carried on." No, to 'be 

15 sure. Mr. Hastings had only to put down by main 
force the brave struggles of innocent men fighting for 
their liberty. Their military resistance crushed, his 
duties ended; and he had then only to fold his arms and 
look on, while their villages were burned, their children 

20 butchered, and their women violated. W^ill Mr. Gleig 
seriously maintain this opinion? Is any rule more plain 
than this, that whoever voluntarily gives to another 
irresistible power over human beings, is bound to take 
order that such power shall not be barbarously abused? 

25 But we beg pardon of our readers for arguing a point so 
clear. 

We hasten to the end of this sad and disgraceful story. 
The war ceased. The finest population in India was 
subjected to a greedy, cowardly, cruel tyrant. Com- 

30 merce and agriculture languished. The rich province 
which had tempted the cupidity of Sujah Dowlah became 
the most miserable part even of his miserable dominions. 
Yet is the injured nation not extinct. At long intervals 



WARREN HASTINGS 37 

gleams of its ancient spirit have flashed forth; and even at 
this day, valour, and self-respect, and a chivalrous feel- 
ing rare among Asiatics, and a bitter remembrance of the 
great crime of England, distinguish that noble Afghan 
race. To this day they are regarded as the best of all 5 
sepoys at the cold steel; and it was very recently re- 
marked, by one who had enjoyed great opportunities of 
observation, that the only natives of India to whom the 
word ''gentleman" can with perfect propriety be apphed 
are to be found among the Rohillas. 10 

Whatever we may think of the morality of Hastings, 
it cannot be denied that the financial results of his pohcy 
did honour to his talents. In less than two years after 
he assumed the government, he had, without imposing 
any additional burdens on the people subject to his 15 
authority, added about four hundred and fifty thousand 
pounds to the annual income of the Company, besides 
procuring about a miUion in ready money. He had also 
relieved the finances of Bengal from military expenditure, 
amounting to near a quarter of a million a year, and had 20 
thrown that charge on the Nabob of Oude. There can 
be no doubt that this was a result which, if it had been 
obtained by honest means, would have entitled him to 
the warmest gratitude of his country, and which, by what- 
ever means obtained, proved that he possessed great 25 
talents for administration. 

In the mean time, Parliament had been engaged in long 
and grave discussions on Asiatic affairs. The ministry 
of Lord North, in the session of 1773, introduced a meas- 
ure which made a considerable change in the constitution 30 
of the Indian government. This law, known by the name 
of the Regulating Act, provided that the presidency of 
Bengal should exercise a control over the other possessions 



^S WARREN HASTINGS 

of the Company; that the chief of that presidency should 
be styled Governor- General; that he should be assisted 
by four Councillors; and that a supreme court of judica- 
ture, consisting of a chief justice and three inferior judges, 
5 should be established at Calcutta. This court was 
made independent of the Governor-General and Council, 
and was intrusted with a civil and criminal jurisdiction 
of immense, and, at the same time, of undefined extent. 
The Governor- General and Councillors were named 

lo in the act, and were to hold their situations for five years. 
Hastings was to be the first Governor- General. One of 
the four new Councillors, Mr. Barwell, an experienced 
servant of the Company, was then in India. The other 
three, General Clavering, Mr. Monson, and Mr. Francis, 

15 were sent out from England. 

The ablest of the new Councillors was, beyond all 
doubt, Philip Francis. His 'acknowledged compositions 
prove that he possessed considerable eloquence and 
information. Several years passed in the public offices 

20 had formed him to habits of business. His enemies have 
never denied that he had a fearless and manly spirit; and 
his friends, we are afraid, must acknowledge that his 
estimate of himself was extravagantly high, that his 
temper was irritable, that his deportment was often rude 

25 and petulant, and that his hatred was of intense bitter- 
ness and of long duration. 

It is scarcely possible to mention this eminent man 
without adverting for a moment to the question which 
his name at once suggests to every mind. Was he the 

30 author of the Letters of Junius? Our own firm behef 
is that he was. The evidence is, we think, such as would 
support a verdict in a civil, nay, in a criminal proceeding. 
The handwriting of Junius is the very peculiar hand- 



WARREN HASTINGS 39 

writing of Francis, slightly disguised. As to the position, 
pursuits, and connections of Junius, the following are the 
most important facts which can be considered as clearly 
proved: first, that he was acquainted with the technical 
forms of the secretary of state's office; secondly, that he 5 
was intimately acquainted with the business of the war- 
office; thirdly, that he, during the year 1770, attended 
debates in the House of Lords, and took notes of speeches, 
particularly of the speeches of Lord Chatham; fourthly, 
that he bitterly resented the appointment of Mr. Chamier 10 
to the place of deputy secretary-at-war; fifthly, that he 
was bound by some strong tie to the first Lord Holland. 
Now, Francis passed some years in the secretary of state's 
office. He was subsequently chief clerk of the war-office. 
He repeatedly mentioned that he had himself, in 1770, 15 
heard speeches of Lord Chatham; and some of these 
speeches were actually printed from his notes. He re- 
signed his clerkship at the war-office from resentment at 
the appointment of Mr. Chamier. It was by Lord Holland 
that he was first introduced into the pubhc service. Now, 20 
here are five marks, all of which ought to be found in 
Junius. They are all five found in Francis. We do not 
believe that more than two of them can be found in any 
other person whatever. If this argument does not settle 
the question, there is an end of all reasoning on circum- 25 
stantial evidence. 

The internal evidence seems to us to point the same way. 
The style of Francis bears a strong resemblance to that of 
Junius; nor are we disposed to admit, what is generally 
taken for granted, that the acknowledged compositions 30 
of Francis are very decidedly inferior to the anonymous 
letters. The argument from inferiority, at all events, is 
one which may be urged with at least equal force against 



40 WARREN HASTINGS 

every claimant that has ever been mentioned, with the 
single exception of Burke; and it would be a waste of 
time to prove that Burke was not Junius. And what 
conclusion, after all, can be drawn from mere inferiority? 
5 Every writer must produce his best work; and the inter- 
val between his best work and his second best work may 
be very wide indeed. Nobody will say that the best 
letters of Junius are more decidedly superior to the 
acknowledged works of Francis than three or four of 

10 Corneille's tragedies to the rest, than three or four of 
Ben Jonson's comedies to the rest, than the Pilgrim's 
Progress to the other works of Bunyan, than Don Quixote 
to the other works of Cervantes. Nay, it is certain that 
the Man in the Mask, whoever he may have been, w^as a 

15 most unequal writer. To go no further than the letters 
which bear the signature of Junius; the letter to the king, 
and the letters to Home Tooke, have little in common, 
except the asperity; and asperity was an ingredient sel- 
dom wanting either in the writings or in the speeches 

20 of Francis. 

Indeed one of the strongest reasons for believing that 
Francis was Junius is the moral reseniblance between 
the two men. It is not difficult, from the letters which, 
under various signatures, are known to have been written 

25 by Junius, and from his dealings with Woodfall and others, 
to form a tolerably correct notion of his character. He 
was clearly a man not destitute of real patriotism and 
magnanimity, a man whose vices were not of a. sordid 
kind. But he must also have been a man in the highest 

30 degree arrogant and insolent, a man prone to malevolence, 
and prone to the error of mistaking his malevolence for 
pubhc virtue. "Doest thou well to be angry?" was the 
question asked in old time of the Hebrew prophet. And 



WARREN HASTINGS 41 

he answered, "I do well." This was evidently the 
temper of Junius; and to this cause we attribute the 
savage cruelty which disgraces several of his letters. No 
man is so merciless as he who, under a strong self-delu- 
sion, confounds his antipathies with his duties. It may 5 
be added that Junius, though allied with the democratic 
party by common enmities, was the very opposite of a 
democratic politican. While attacking individuals with 
a ferocity which perpetually violated all the laws of literary 
warfare, he regarded the most defective parts of old insti- 10 
tutions with a respect amounting to pedantry, pleaded 
the cause of Old Sarum with fervour, and contemptuously 
told the capitalists of Manchester and Leeds that, if they 
wanted votes, they might buy land and become freeholders 
of Lancashire and Yorkshire. All this, we believe, might 15 
stand, with scarcely any change, for a character of Philip 
Francis. 

It is not strange that the great anonymous writer should 
have been willing at that time to leave the country which 
had been so powerfully stirred by his eloquence. Every 20 
thing had gone against him. That party which he clearly 
preferred to every other, the party of George Grenville, 
had been scattered by the death of its chief; and Lord 
Suffolk had led the greater part of it over to the minis- 
terial benches. The ferment produced by the Middlesex 25 
election had gone down. Every faction must have been 
alike an object of aversion to Junius. His opinions on 
domestic affairs separated him from the ministry; his 
opinions on colonial affairs from the opposition. Under 
such circumstances, he had thrown down his pen in misan- 30 
thropical despair. His farewell letter to Woodfall bears 
date the nineteenth of January, 1773. In that letter, he 
declared that he must be an idiot to write again; that he 



42 WARREN HASTINGS 

had meant well by the cause and the public; that both 
were given up; that there were not ten men who would 
act steadily together on any question. "But it is all 
alike," he added, ''vile and contemptible. You have 
5 never flinched that I know of; and I shall always rejoice 
to hear of your prosperity." These were the last words 
of Junius. In a year from that time, Philip Francis was 
on his voyage to Bengal. 

With the three new Councillors came out the judges 

lo of the Supreme Court. The chief justice was Sir Elijah 
Impey. He was an old acquaintance of Hastings; and 
it is probable that the Governor-General, if he had 
searched through all the inns of court, could not have 
found an equally serviceable tool. But the members of 

15 Council were by no means in an obsequious mood. 
Hastings greatly disliked the new form of government, 
and had no very high opinion of his coadjutors. They 
had heard of this, and were disposed to be suspicious 
and punctilious. When men are in such a frame of mind, 

20 any trifle is sufflcient to give occasion for dispute. The 
members of Council expected a salute of twenty-one 
guns from the batteries of Fort William. Hastings 
aflowed them only seventeen. They landed in ill- 
humour. The first civilities were exchanged with cold 

25 reserve. On the morrow commenced that long quarrel 
which, after distracting British India, was renewed in 
England, and in which all the most eminent statesmen 
and orators of the age took active part on one or the 
other side. 

30 Hastings was supported by Barwell. They had not 
always been friends. But the arrival of the new members 
of Council from England naturally had the eft'ect of 
uniting the old servants of the Company. Clavering, 



WARREN HASTINGS 43 

Monson, and Francis formed the majority. They 
instantly wrested the government out of the hands of 
Hastings; condemned, certainly not without justice, his 
late dealings with the Nabob Vizier; recalled the English 
agent from Oude, and sent thither a creature of their 5 
own; ordered the brigade which had conquered the 
unhappy Rohillas to return to the Company's territories; 
and instituted a severe inquiry into the conduct of the 
war. Next, in spite of the Governor- General's remon- 
strances, they proceeded to exercise, in the most indiscreet 10 
manner, their new authority over the subordinate presi- 
dencies; threw all the affairs of Bombay into confusion; 
and interfered, with an incredible union of rashness and 
feebleness, in the intestine disputes of the Mahratta 
government. At the same time, they fell on the internal 15 
administration of Bengal, and attacked the whole fiscal 
and judicial system, a system which was undoubtedly 
defective, but which it was very improbable that gentle- 
men fresh from England would be competent to amend. 
The effect of their reforms was that all protection to life 20 
and property was withdrawn, and that gangs of robbers 
plundered and slaughtered with impunity in the very 
suburbs of Calcutta. Hastings continued to live in the 
Government-house, and to draw the salary of Governor- 
General. He continued even to take the lead at the coun- 25 
cil-board in the transaction of ordinary business; for his 
opponents could not but feel that he knew much of which 
they were ignorant, and that he decided, both surely and 
speedily, many questions which to them would have been 
hopelessly puzzling. But the higher powers of govern- 30 
ment and the most valuable patronage had been taken 
from him. 
The natives soon found this out. They considered him 



44 WARREN HASTINGS 

as a fallen man; and they acted after their kind. Some 
of our readers may have seen, in India, a cloud of crows 
pecking a sick vulture to death, no bad t3^e of what 
happens in that country, as often as fortune deserts one 
5 who has been great and dreaded. In an instant, all the 
sycophants who had lately been ready to He for him^ 
to forge for him, to pandar for him, to poison for him, 
hasten to purchase the favour of his victorious enemies 
by accusing him. An Indian government has only to let 

lo it be understood that it wishes a particular man 'to be 
ruined; and, in twenty-four hours, it will be furnished 
with grave charges, supported by depositions so full and 
circumstantial that any person unaccustomed to Asiatic 
mendacity would regard them as decisive. It is well if 

15 the signature of the destined victim is not counterfeited 
at the foot of some illegal compact, and if some treason- 
able paper is not slipped into a hiding-place in his house. 
Hastings was now regarded as helpless. The power to 
make or mar the fortune of every man in Bengal had 

20 passed, as it seemed, into the hands of the new Coun- 
cillors. Immediately charges against the Governor- 
General began to pour in. They were eagerly welcomed 
by the majority, who, to do them justice, were men of 
too much honour knowingly to countenance false ,accu- 

25 sations, but who were not sufficiently acquainted with 
the East to be aware that, in that part of the world, a 
very little encouragement from power will call forth, in 
a week, more Oateses, and Bedloes, and Dangerfields^ 
than Westminster Hall sees in a century. 

30 It would have been strange indeed if, at such a junc- 
ture, Nuncomar had remained quiet. That bad man 
was stimulated at once by malignity, by avarice, and by 
ambition. Now was the time to be avenged on his old 



WARREN HASTINGS 45 

enemy, to wreak a grudge of seventeen years, to establish 
himself in the favour of the majority of the Council, to 
become the greatest native in Bengal. From the time 
of the arrival of the new Councillors, he had paid the most 
marked court to them, and had in consequence been 5 
excluded, with all indignity, from the Government-house. 
He now put into the hands of Francis, with great cere- 
mony, a paper containing several charges of the most 
serious description. By this document Hastings was 
accused of putting offices up to sale, and of receiving 10 
bribes for suffering offenders to escape. In particular, 
it was alleged that Mahommed Reza Khan had been 
dismissed with impunity, in consideration of a great sum 
paid to the Governor-General. 

Francis read the paper in Council. A violent alterca- 15; 
tion followed. Hastings complained in bitter terms of 
the way in which he was treated, spoke with contempt 
of Nuncomar and of Nuncomar's accusation, and denied 
the right of the Council to sit in judgment on the Gover- 
nor. At the next meeting of the Board, another com- 20' 
munication from Nuncomar was produced. He requested 
that he might be permitted to attend the Council, and that 
he might be heard in support of his assertions. Another 
tempestuous debate took place. The Governor-General 
maintained that the Council-room was not a proper place 25: 
for such an investigation; that from persons who were 
heated by daily conflict with him he could not expect the 
fairness of judges; and that he could not, without betray- 
ing the dignity of his post, submit to be confronted with 
such a man as Nuncomar. The majority, however, 3a 
resolved to go into the charges. Hastings rose, declared 
the sitting at an end, and left the room followed by Bar- 
well. The other members kept their seats, voted them- 



46 WARREN HASTINGS 

selves a council, put Clavering in the chair, and ordered 
Nuncomar to be called in. Nuncomar not only adhered 
to the original charges, but, after the fashion of the East, 
produced a large supplement. He stated that Hastings 
5 had received a great sum for appointing Rajah Goordas 
treasurer of the Nabob's household, and for committing 
the care of his Highness's person to the Munn'y Begum. 
He put in a letter purporting to bear the seal of the 
Munny Begum, for the purpose of establishing the truth 

lo of his story. The seal, whether forged, as Hastings 
affirmed, or genuine, as we are rather inclined to believe, 
proved nothing. Nuncomar, as every body knows who 
knows India, had only to tell the Munny Begum that 
such a letter would give pleasure to the majority of the 

15 Council, in order to procure her attestation. The ma- 
jority, however, voted that the charge was made out; 
that Hastings had corruptly received between thirty and 
forty thousand pounds; and that he ought to be compelled 
to refund. 

20 The general feeling among the English in Bengal was 
strongly in favour of the Governor-General. In talents 
for business, in knowledge of the country, in general 
courtesy of demeanour, he was decidedly superior to his 
persecutors. The servants of the Company were natu- 

25 rally disposed to side with the most distinguished member 
of their own body against a clerk from the war-office, 
who, profoundly ignorant of the native languages and 
the native character, took on himself to regulate every 
department of the administration. Hastings, however, 

30 in spite of the general sympathy of his countrymen, was 
in a most painful situation. There was still an appeal 
to higher authority in England. If that authority took 
part with his enemies, nothing was left to him but to 



WARREN HASTINGS 47 

throw up his office. He accordingly placed his resigna- 
tion in the hands of his agent in London, Colonel 
Macleane. But Macleane was instructed not to produce 
the resignation, unless it should be fully ascertained that 
the feeling at the India House was adverse to the 5 
Governor-General. 

The triumph of Nuncomar seemed to be complete. He 
held a daily levee, to which his countrymen resorted in 
crowds, and to which, on one occasion, the majority of the 
Council condescended to repair. His house was an office 10 
for the purpose of receiving charges against the Governor- 
General. It was said that, partly by threats, and partly 
by wheedling, the villanous Brahmin had induced many 
of the wealthiest men of the province to send in com- 
plaints. But he was playing a perilous game. It was 15 
not safe to drive to despair a man of such resources and 
of such determination as Hastings. Nuncomar, with all 
his acuteness, did not understand the nature of the insti- 
tutions under which he lived. He saw that he had with 
him the majority of the body which made treaties, gave 20 
places, raised taxes. The separation between political 
and judicial functions was a thing of which he had no 
conception. It had probably never occurred to him that 
there was in Bengal an authority perfectly independent 
of the Council, an authority which could protect one whom 25 
the Council wished to destroy, and send to the gibbet 
one whom the Council wished to protect. Yet such was 
the fact. The Supreme Court was, within the sphere of 
its own duties, altogether independent of the Govern- 
ment. Hastings, with his usual sagacity, had seen how 30 
much advantage he might derive from possessing himself 
of this stronghold; and he had acted accordingly. The 
Judges, especially the Chief Justice, were hostile to the 



48 WARREN HASTINGS 

majority of the Council. The time had now come foi* 
putting this formidable machinery into action. 

On a sudden, Calcutta was astounded by the news 
that Nuncomar had been taken up on a charge of felony, 
5 committed, and thrown into the common gaol. The 
crime imputed to him was that six years before he had 
forged a bond. The ostensible prosecutor was a native. 
But it was then, and still is, the opinion of every body, 
idiots and biographers excepted, that Hastings was the 

lo real mover in the business. 

The rage of the majority rose to the highest point. 
They protested against the proceedings of the Supreme 
Court, and sent several urgent messages to the judges, 
demanding that Nuncomar should be admitted to bail. 

15 The judges returned haughty and resolute answers. All 
that the Council could do was to heap honours and 
emoluments on the family of Nuncomar; and this they 
did. In the mean time the assizes commenced; a true 
bill was found; and Nuncomar was brought before Sir 

20 Elijah Impey and a jury composed of Englishmen. A 
great quantity of contradictory swearing, and the neces- 
sity of having every word of the evidence interpreted, 
protracted the trial to a most unusual length. At last 
a verdict of guilty was returned, and the Chief Justice 

25 pronounced sentence of death on the prisoner. 

Mr. Gleig is so strangely ignorant as to imagine that 
the judges had no further discretion in the case, and that 
the power of extending mercy to Nuncomar resided with 
the Council. He therefore throws on Francis and 

30 Francis's party the whole blame of what followed. We 
should have thought that a gentleman who has pub- 
lished five or six bulky volumes on Indian affairs might 
have taken the trouble to inform himself as to the fun- 



5 



WARREN HASTINGS 49 

damental principles of the Indian Government. The 
Supreme Court had, under the Regulating Act, the power 
to respite criminals till the pleasure of the Crown should 
be known. The Council had, at that time, no power to 
interfere. 

That Impey ought to have respited Nuncomar we hold 
to be perfectly clear. Whether the whole proceeding was 
not illegal, is a question. But it is certain that, whatever 
may have been, according to technical rules of construc- 
tion, the effect of the statute under which the trial took 10 
place, it was most unjust to hang a Hindoo for forgery. 
The law which made forgery capital in England was 
passed without the smallest reference to the state of 
society in India. It was unknown to the natives of India. 
It had never been put in execution among them, certainly 15 
not for want of dehnquents. It was in the highest degree 
shocking to all their notions. They were not accustomed 
to the distinction which many circumstances, peculiar to 
our own state of society, have led us to make between 
forgery and other kinds of cheating. The counterfeiting 20 
of a seal was, in their estimation, a common act of swin- 
dling; nor had it ever crossed their minds that it was to be 
punished as severely as gang-robbery or assassination. 
A just judge would, beyond all doubt, have reserved the 
case for the consideration of the sovereign. But Impey 25 
would not hear of mercy or delay. 

The excitement among all classes was great. Francis 
and Francis's few English adherents described the 
Governor- General and the Chief Justice as the worst of 
murderers. Clavering, it was said, swore that, even at the 30 
foot of the gallows, Nuncomar should be rescued. The 
bulk of the European society, though strongly attached 
to the Governor- General, could not but feel compassion 
5 



50 WARREN HASTINGS 

for a man who, with all his crimes, had so long filled go 
large a space in their sight, who had been great and 
powerful before the British empire in India began to 
exist, and to whom, in the old times, governors and 
5 members of council, then mere commercial factors, had 
paid court for protection. The feeling of the Hindoos 
was infinitely stronger. They were, indeed, not a people 
to strike one blow for their countryman. But his sen- 
tence filled them with sorrow and dismay. Tried even 

10 by their low standard of morality, he was a bad man. 
But, bad as he was, he was the head of their race 
and religion, a Brahmin of the Brahmins. He had in- 
herited the purest and highest caste. He had practised 
with the greatest punctuality all those ceremonies to which 

15 the superstitious Bengales ascribe far more importance 
than to the correct discharge of the social duties. They 
felt, therefore, as a devout Catholic in the dark ages 
would have felt, at seeing a prelate of the highest dignity 
sent to the gallows by a secular tribunal. According to 

20 their old national laws, a Brahmin could not be put to 
death for any crime whatever. And the crime for which 
Nuncomar was about to die was regarded by them in 
much the same light in which the selling of an unsound 
horse, for a sound price, is regarded by a Yorkshire 

25 jockey. 

/'The Mussulmans alone appear to have seen with 
exultation the fate of the powerful Hindoo, who had 
attempted to rise by means of the ruin of Mahommed 
Reza Khan. The Mahommedan historian of those times 

30 takes delight in aggravating the charge. He assures us 
that in Nuncomar's house a casket was found containing 
counterfeits of the seals of all the richest men of the 
province. We have never fallen in with any other 



WARREN HASTINGS 51 

authority for this story, which in itself is by no means 
improbable. 

The day drew near; and Nuncomar prepared himself 
to die with that quiet fortitude with which the Bengalee, 
so effeminately timid in personal conflict, often encounters 5 
calamities for which there is no remedy. The sheriff, 
with the humanity which is seldom wanting in an English 
gentleman, visited the prisoner on the eve of the execu- 
tion, and as&ured him that no indulgence, consistent with 
the law, should be refused to him. Nuncomar expressed 10 
his gratitude with great politeness and unaltered com- 
posure. Not a muscle of his face moved. Not a sigh 
broke from him. He put his finger to his forehead, and 
calmly said that fate would have its way, and that there 
was no resisting the pleasure of God. He sent his com- 15 
pliments to Francis, Clavering, and Monson, and charged 
them to protect Rajah Goordas, who was about to become 
the head of the Brahmins of Bengal. The sheriff with- 
drew, greatly agitated by what had passed, and Nuncomar 
sat composedly down to write notes and examine accounts. 20 

The next morning, before the sun was in his power, 
an immense concourse assembled round the place where 
the gallows had been set up. Grief and horror were on 
every face; yet to the last the multitude could hardly 
believe that the English really purposed to take the life 25 
of the great Brahmin. At length the mournful procession 
came through the crowd. Nuncomar sat up in his palan- 
quin, and looked round him with unaltered serenity. 
He had just parted from those who were most nearly 
connected with him. Their cries and contortions had 3a 
appalled the European ministers of justice, but had not 
produced the smallest effect on the iron stoicism of the 
prisoner. The only anxiety which he expressed was that 



52 WARREN HASTINGS 

men of his own priestly caste might be in attendance to 
take charge of his corpse. He again desired to be remem- 
bered to his friends in the Council, mounted the scaffold 
with firmness, and gave the signal to the executioner. 
5 The moment that the drop fell, a howl of sorrow and 
despair rose from the innumerable spectators. Hun- 
dreds turned away their faces from the polluting sight, 
fled with loud wailings towards the Hoogley, and plunged 
into its holy waters, as if to purify themselves from the 

lo guilt of having loojvcd on such a crime. These feelings 
were not confined to Calcutta. The whole province was 
greatly excited; and the population of Dacca, in par- 
ticular, gave strong signs of grief and dismay. 

Of Impey's conduct it is impossible to speak too severely. 

15 We have already said that, in our opinion, he acted 
unjustly in refusing to respite Nuncom-ar. No rational 
man can doubt that he took this course in order to gratify 
the Governor-General. If we had ever had any doubts 
on that point, they would have been dispelled by a letter 

20 which Mr. Gleig has published. Hastings, three or four 
years later, described Impey as the man "to whose sup- 
port he was at one time indebted for the safety of his 
fortune, honour, and reputation." These strong words 
can refer only to the case of Nuncomar; and they must 

:25 mean that Impey hanged Nuncomar in order to support 
Hastings. It is, therefore, our deliberate opinion that 
Impey, sitting as a judge, put a man unjustly to death 
in order to serve a political purpose. 

But we look on the conduct of Hastings in a somewhat 

30 different light. He was struggling for fortune, honour, 
liberty, all that makes life valuable. He was beset by 
rancorous and unprincipled enemies. From his col- 
leagues he could expect no justice. He cannot be blamed 



WARREN HASTINGS 



53 



for wishing to crush his accusers. He was indeed bound 
to use only legitimate means for that end. But it was 
not strange that he should have thought any means legiti- 
mate which were pronounced legitimate by the sages of the 
law, by men whose pecuUar duty it was to deal justly 5 
between adversaries, and whose education might be sup- 
posed to have peculiarly qualified them for the discharge 
of that duty. Nobody demands from a party the un- 
bending equity of a judge. The reason that judges are 
appointed is, that even a good man cannot be trusted to 10 
decide a cause in which he is himself concerned. Not a 
day passes on which an honest prosecutor does not ask 
for what none but a dishonest tribunal would grant. It 
is too much to expect that any man, when his dearest 
interests are at stake, and his strongest passions excited, 15 
will, as against himself, be more just than the sworn dis- 
pensers of justice. To take an analogous case from the 
history of our own island: suppose that Lord Stafford, 
when in the Tower on suspicion of being concerned in the 
Popish plot, had been apprised that Titus Gates had done 20 
something which might, by a questionable construction, 
be brought under the head of felony. Should we severely 
blame Lord Stafford, in the supposed case, for causing 
a prosecution to be instituted, for furnishing funds, for 
using all his influence to intercept the mercy of the Crown? 25 
We think not. If a judge, indeed, from favour to the 
Catholic lords, were to strain the law in order to hang 
Gates, such a judge would richly deserve impeachment. 
But it does not appear to us that the Catholic lord, by 
bringing the case before the judge for decision, would 30 
materially overstep the limits of a just self-defence. 

While, therefore, we have not the least doubt that this 
memorable execution is to be attributed to Hastings, we 



54 WARREN HASTINGS 

doubt whether it can with justice be reckoned among 
his crimes. That his conduct was dictated by a profound 
policy is evident. He was in a minority in Council. It 
was possible that he might long be in a minority. He 
5 knew the native character well. He knew in what 
abundance accusations are certain to flow in against the 
most innocent inhabitant of India who is under the frown 
of power. There was not in the whole black population 
of Bengal a place-holder, a place-hunter, a government 

10 tenant, who did not think that he might better himself 
by sending up a deposition against the Governor-General. 
Under these circumstances, the persecuted statesman 
resolved to teach the whole crew of accusers and wit- 
nesses that, though in a minority at the council board, 

15 he was still to be feared. The lesson which he gave 
them was indeed a lesson not to be forgotten. The head 
of the combination which had been formed against him, 
the richest, the most powerful, the most artful of the 
Hindoos, distinguished by the favour of those who then 

20 held the government, fenced round by the superstitious 
reverence of millions, was hanged in broad day before 
many thousands of people. Everything that could make 
the warning impressive, dignity in the sufferer, solemnity 
in the proceeding, was found in this case. The helpless 

25 rage and vain struggles of the Council made the triumph 
more signal. From that moment the conviction of every 
native was that it was safer to take the part of Hastings 
in a minority than that of Francis in a majority, and 
that he who was so venturous as to join in running down 

30 the Governor-General might chance, in the phrase of 
the Eastern poet, to find a tiger, while beating the jungle 
for a deer. The voices of a thousand informers were 
silenced in an instant. From that time, whatever diffi- 



WARREN HASTINGS 55 

culties Hastings might have to encounter, he was never 
molested by accusations from natives of India. 

It is a remarkable circumstance that one of the letters 
of Hastings to Dr. Johnson bears date a very few hours 
after the death of Nuncomar. While the whole settle- 5 
ment was in commotion, while a mighty and ancient priest- 
hood were weeping over the remains of their chief, the 
conqueror in that deadly grapple sat down, with charac- 
teristic self-possession, to write about the Tour to the 
Hebrides, Jones's Persian Grammar, and the history, 10 
traditions, arts, and natural productions of India. 

In the mean time, intelligence of the Rohilla war, and of 
the first disputes between Hastings and his colleagues, 
had reached London. The directors took part with the 
majority, and sent out a letter filled with severe reflec- 15 
tions on the conduct of Hastings. They condemned, in 
strong but just terms, the iniquity of undertaking offen- 
sive wars merely for the sake of pecuniary advantages. 
But they utterly forgot that, if Hastings had by ilhcit 
means obtained pecuniary advantages, he had done so, 20 
not for his own benefit, but in order to meet their demands. 
To enjoin honesty, and to insist on having what could 
not be honestly got, was then the constant practice of the 
Company. As Lady Macbeth says of her husband, they 
''would not play false, and yet would wrongly win." 25 

The Regulating Act by which Hastings had been 
appointed Governor- General for five years, empowered 
the Crown to remove him on an address from the Com- 
pany. Lord North was desirious to procure such an 
address. The three members of Council who had been 30 
sent out from England were men of his own choice. 
General Clavering, in particular, was supported by a 
large parliamentary connection, such as no cabinet could 



56 WARREN HASTINGS 

be inclined to disoblige. The wish of the Minister was 
to displace Hastings, and to put Clavering at the head of 
the government. In the Court of Directors parties were 
very nearly balanced. Eleven voted against Hastings; 
5 ten for him. The Court of Proprietors was then con- 
vened. The great sale-room presented a singular appear- 
ance. Letters had been sent by the Secretary of the 
Treasury, exhorting all the supporters of government 
who held India stock to be in attendance. Lord Sand- 

lo wich marshalled the friends of the administration with 
his usual dexterity and alertness. Fifty peers and privy 
councillors, seldom seen so far easfward, were counted in 
the crowd. The debate lasted till midnight. The oppo- 
nents of Hastings had a small superiority on the divis- 

15 ion; but a ballot was demanded; and the result was that 
the Governor- General triumphed by a majority of above a 
hundred votes over the combined efforts of the Directors 
and the Cabinet. The ministers were greatly exasperated 
by this defeat. Even Lord North lost his temper, no 

20 ordinary occurrence with him, and threatened to con- 
voke parliament before Christmas, and to bring in a bill 
for depriving the Company of all political power, and for 
restricting it to its old business of trading in silks and 
teas. 

25 Colonel Macleane, who through all this conflict had 
zealously supported the cause of Hastings, now thought 
that his employer was in imminent danger of being 
turned out, branded with parliamentary censure, per- 
haps prosecuted. The opinion of the crown lawyers 

30 had already been taken respecting some parts of the 
Governor-General's conduct. It seemed to be high 
time to think of securing an honourable retreat. Under 
these circumstances, Macleane thought himself justified 



WARREN HASTINGS 57 

in producing the resignation with which he had been 
intrusted. The instrument was not in very accurate 
form; but the Directors were too eager to be scrupulous. 
They accepted the resignation, fixed on Mr. Wheler, one 
of their own body, to succeed Hastings, and sent out 5 
orders that General Clavering, as senior member of Coun- 
cil, should exercise the functions of Governor- General 
till Mr. Wheler should arrive. 

But, while these things were passing in England, a great 
change had taken place in Bengal. Monson was no more. 10 
Only four members of the government were left. Claver- 
ing and Francis were on one side, Barwell and the 
Governor-General on the other; and the Governor-General 
had the casting vote. Hastings, who had been during 
two years destitute of all power and patronage, became 15 
at once absolute. He instantly proceeded to retaHate 
on his adversaries. Their measures were reversed: their 
creatures were displaced. A new valuation of the lands 
of Bengal, for the purposes of taxation, was ordered; and 
it was provided that the whole inquiry should be conducted 20 
by the Governor-General, and that all the letters relating 
to it should run in his name. He began, at the same 
time, to revolve vast plans of conquest and dominion, 
plans which he lived to see realised, though not by him- 
self. His project was to form subsidiary alliances with 25 
the native princes, particularly with those of Oude and 
Berar, and thus to make Britain the paramount power in 
India. While he was meditating these great designs, 
arrived the intelligence that he had ceased to be Governor- 
General, that his resignation had been accepted, that 30 
Wheler was coming out immediately, and that, till 
Wheler arrived, the chair was to be filled by Clavering. 

Had Hastings still been in a minority, he would prob- 



58 WARREN HASTINGS 

ably have retired without a struggle; but he was now the 
real master of British India, and he was not disposed to 
quit his high place. He asserted that he had never given 
any instructions which could warrant the steps taken at 
5 home. What his instructions had been, he owned he had 
forgotten. If he had kept a copy of them he had mislaid 
it. But he was certain that he had repeatedly declared 
to the Directors that he would not resign. He could not 
see how the court, possessed of that declaration from him- 

lo self, could receive his resignation from the doubtful hands 
of an agent. If the resignation were invalid, all the pro- 
ceedings which were founded on that resignation were 
null, and Hastings was still Governor- General. 

He afterwards affirmed that, though his agents had 

15 not acted in conformity with his instructions, he would 
nevertheless have held himself bound by their acts, if 
Clavering had not attempted to seize the supreme power 
by violence. Whether this assertion were or were not 
true, it cannot be doubted that the imprudence of 

20 Clavering gave Hastings an advantage. The General 
sent for the keys of the fort and of the treasury, took 
possession of the records, and held a council at which 
Francis attended. Hastings took the chair in another 
apartment, and Barwell sat with him. Each of the two 

25 parties had a plausible show of right. There was no 
authoi;ity entitled to their obedience within fifteen thou- 
sand miles. It seemed that there remained no way of 
settling the dispute except an appeal to arms; and from 
such an appeal Hastings, confident of his influence over 

30 his countrymen in India, was not inclined to shrink. 
He directed the officers of the garrison of Fort William 
and of all the neighbouring stations to obey no orders 
but his. At the same time, with admirable judgment, 



WARREN HASTINGS 59 

he offered to submit the case to the Supreme Court, and 
to abide by its decision. By making this proposition 
he risked nothing; yet it was a proposition which his 
opponents could hardly reject. Nobody could be treated 
as a criminal for obeying what the judges should solemnly 5 
pronounce to be the lawful government. The boldest 
man would shrink from taking arms in defence of what 
the judges should pronounce to be usurpation. Clavering 
and Francis, after some delay, unwillingly consented to 
abide by the award of the court. The court pronounced 10 
that the resignation was invalid, and that therefore 
Hastings was still Governor- General under the Regu- 
lating Act; and the defeated members of the Council, 
finding that the sense of the whole settlement was against 
them, acquiesced in the decision. "^ 15 

About this time arrived the news that, after a suit 
which had lasted several years, the Franconian courts 
had decreed a divorce between Imhoff and his wife. The 
Baron left Calcutta, carrying with him the means of 
buying an estate in Saxony. The lady became Mrs. 20 
Hastings. The event was celebrated by great festivities; 
and all the most conspicuous persons at Calcutta, without 
distinction of parties, were invited to the Government- 
house. Clavering, as the Mahommedan chronicler tells 
the story, was sick in mind and body, and excused him- 25 
self from joining the splendid assembly. But Hastings, 
whom, as it should seem, success in ambition and in love 
had put into high good-humour, would take no 'denial. 
He went himself to the General's house, and at length 
brought his vanquished rival in triumph to the gay circle 30 
which surrounded the bride. The exertion was too much 
for a frame broken by mortification as well as by disease. 
Clavering died a few days later. 



6o WARREN HASTINGS 

Wheler, who came out expecting to be Governor- Gen- 
eral, and was forced to content himself with a seat at the 
Council Board, generally voted with Francis. But the 
Governor-General, with Barwell's help and his own cast- 
5 ing vote, was still the master. Some change took place 
at this time in the feeling both of the Court of Directors 
and of the Ministers of the Crown. All designs against 
Hastings were dropped; and when his original term of 
five years expired, he was quietly reappointed. The 

10 truth is, that the fearful dangers to which the public 
interests in every quarter were now exposed, made both 
Lord North and the Company unwilling to part with a 
Governor whose talents, experience, and resolution, enmity 
itself was compelled to acknowledge. 

15 The crisis was indeed formidable. That great and 
victorious empire, on the throne of which George the 
Third had taken his seat eighteen years before, with 
brighter hopes than had attended the accession of any 
of the long line of English sovereigns, had, by the most 

20 senseless misgovernment, been brought to the verge of 
ruin. In America millions of Englishmen were at war 
with the country from which their blood, their language, 
their religion, and their institutions were derived, and 
to which, but a short time before, they had been as 

25 strongly attached as the inhabitants of Norfolk and 
Leicestershire. The great powers of Europe, humbled 
to the dust by the vigour and genius which had guided 
the councils of George the Second, now rejoiced in the 
prospect of a signal revenge. The time was approach- 

30 ing when our island, while struggling to keep down the 
United States of America, and pressed with a still nearer 
danger by the too just discontents of Ireland, was to be 
assailed by France, Spain, and Holland, and to be threat- 



WARREN HASTINGS 6i 

ened by the armed neutrality of the Baltic; when even 
our maritime supremacy was to be in jeopardy; when 
hostile fleets were to command the Straits of Calpe and 
the Mexican Sea; when the British flag was to be scarcely 
able to protect the British Channel. Great as were the 5 
faults of Hastings, it was happy for our country that at 
that conjuncture, the most terrible through which ^he 
has ever passed, he was the ruler of her Indian dominions. 
An attack by sea on Bengal was little to be apprehended. 
The danger was that the European enemies of England 10 
might form an alliance with some native power, might 
furnish that power with troops, arms, and ammunition, 
and might thus assail our possessions on the side of the 
land. It was chiefly from the Mahrattas that Hastings 
anticipated danger. The original seat of that singular 15 
people was the wild range of hills which runs along the 
western coast of India. In the reign of Aurungzebe the 
inhabitants of those regions, led by the great Sevajee, 
began to descend on the possessions of their wealthier and 
less warhke neighbours. The energy, ferocity, and cun- 20 
ning of the Mahrattas, soon made them the most con- 
spicuous among the new powers which were generated 
by the corruption of the decaying monarchy. At first 
they were only robbers. They soon rose to the dignity 
of conquerors. Half the provinces of the empire were 25 
turned into Mahratta principaUties. Freebooters, sprung 
from low castes, and accustomed to menial employ- 
ments, became mighty Rajahs. The Bonslas, at the head 
of a band of plunderers, occupied the vast region of 
Berar. The Guicowar, which is, being interpreted, the 30 
Herdsman', founded that dynasty which still reigns in 
Guzerat. The houses of Scindia and Holkar waxed great 
in Malwa. One adventurous captain made his nest on the 



62 WARREN HASTINGS 

impregnable rock of Gooti. Another became the lord 
of the thousand villages which are scattered among the 
green rice-fields of Tanjore. 

That was the time, throughout India, of double gov- 
5 ernment. The form and the power were everywhere 
separated. The Mussulman nabobs who had become 
sovereign princes, the Vizier in Oude, and the Nizam 
at Hyderabad, still called themselves the viceroys of the 
house of Tamerlane. In the same manner the Mahratta 

lo states, though really independent of each other, pre- 
tended to be members of one empire. They all acknowl- 
edged, by words and ceremonies, the supremacy of the 
heir of Sevajee, a roi faineant who chewed bang and toyed 
with dancing girls in a state prison at Sattara, and of his 

15 Peshwa or mayor of the palace, a great hereditary magis- 
trate, who kept a court with kingly state at Poonah, 
and whose authority was obeyed in the spacious provinces 
of Aurungabad and Bejapoor. 

Some months before war was declared in Europe the 

20 government of Bengal was alarmed by the news that a 
French adventurer, who passed for a m.an of quality, 
had arrived at Poonah. It was said that he had been 
received there with great distinction, that he had de- 
livered to the Peshwa letters and presents from Louis 

2$ the Sixteenth, and that a treaty, hostile to England, had 
been concluded between France and the Mahrattas. 

Hastings immediately resolved to strike the first blow. 
The title of the Peshwa was not undisputed. A portion 
of the Mahratta nation was favourable to a pretender. 

30 The Governor-General determined to espouse this pre- 
tender's interest, to move an army across the peninsula 
of India, and to form a close alliance with the chief of 
the house of Bonsla, who ruled Berar, and who, in power 



WARREN HASTINGS 63 

and dignity, was inferior to none of the Mahratta 
princes. 

The army had marched, and the negotiations with Berar 
were in progress, when a letter from the English consul 
at Cairo brought the news that war had been proclaimed 5 
both in London and Paris. All the measures which the 
crisis required were adopted by Hastings without a 
moment's delay. The French factories in Bengal were 
seized. Orders were sent to Madras that Pondicherry 
should instantly be occupied. Near Calcutta, works were 10 
thrown up which were thought to render the approach of 
a hostile force impossible. A maritime establishment was 
formed for the defence of the river. Nine new battalions 
of sepoys were raised, and a corps of native artillery was 
formed out of the hardy Lascars of the Bay of Bengal. 15 
Having made these arrangements, the Governor- General 
with calm confidence pronounced his presidency secure 
from all attack, unless the Mahrattas should march 
against it in conjunction with the French. 

The expedition which Hastings had sent westward was 20 
not so speedily or completely successful as most of his 
undertakings. The commanding officer procrastinated. ■ 
The authorities at Bombay blundered. But the Governor- 
General persevered. A new commander repaired the errors 
of his predecessor. Several brilliant actions spread the 25 
military renown of the English through regions where no 
European flag had ever been seen. It is probable that, if a 
new and more formidable danger had not compelled Hast- 
ings to change his whole policy, his plans respecting the 
Mahratta empire would have been carried into complete 30 
effect. 

The authorities in England had wisely sent out to 
Bengal, as commander of the forces and member of the 



64 WARREN HASTINGS 

council, one of the most distinguished soldiers of that 
time. Sir Eyre Coote had, many years before, been 
conspicuous among the founders of the British empire 
in the East. At the council of war which preceded the 
5 battle of Plassey , he earnestly recommended, in opposi- 
tion to the majority, that daring course which, after 
some hesitation, was adopted, and which was crowned 
with such splendid success. He subsequently com- 
manded in the south of India against the brave and 

lo unfortunate Lally, gained the decisive battle of Wande- 
wash over the French and their native allies, took Pondi- 
cherry, and made the English power supreme in the 
Carnatic. Since those great exploits near twenty years 
had elapsed. Coote had no longer the bodily activity 

15 which he had shown in earlier days; nor was the vigour 
of his mind altogether unimpaired. He was capricious 
and fretful, and required much coaxing to keep him in 
good-humour. It must, we fear, be added that the love 
of money had grown upon him, and that he thought more 

20 about his allowances, and less about his duties, than 
might have been expected from so eminent a member 
of so noble a profession. Still he was perhaps the ablest 
officer that was then to be found in the British army. 
Among the native soldiers his name was great and his 

25 influence unrivalled. Nor is he yet forgotten by them. 
Now and then a white-bearded old sepoy may still be 
found, who loves to talk of Porto Novo and PolHlore. 
It is but a short time since one of those aged men came 
to present a memorial to an EngUsh officer, who holds 

30 one of the highest employments in India. A print of 
Coote hung in the room. The veteran recognised at 
once that face and figure which he had not seen for more 
than half a century, and, forgetting his salam to the 



WARREN HASTINGS 65 

living, halted, drew himself up, lifted his hand, and with 
solemn reverence paid his military obeisance to the dead. 

Coote, though he did not, like Barwell, vote constantly 
with the Governor-General, was by no means inclined 
to join in systematic opposition, and on most questions 5 
concurred with Hastings, who did his best, by assiduous 
courtship, and' by readily granting the most exorbitant 
allowances, to gratify the strongest passions of the old 
soldier. 

It seemed likely at this time that a general reconciUa- 10 
tion would put an end to the quarrels which had, during 
some years, weakened and disgraced the government of 
Bengal. The dangers of the empire might well induce 
men of patriotic feeling — and of patriotic feeling neither 
Hastings nor Francis was destitute — to forget private 15 
enmities, and to co-operate heartily for the general good. 
Coote had never been concerned in faction. Wheler was 
thoroughly tired of it. Barwell had made an ample for- 
tune, and, though he had promised that he would not 
leave Calcutta while his help was needed in Council, was 20 
most desirous to return to England, and exerted himself 
to promote an arrangement which would set him at 
liberty. A compact w^as made, by which Francis agreed 
to desist from opposition, and Hastings engaged that the 
friends of Francis should be admitted to a fair share of 25 
the honours and emoluments of the service. During a few 
months after this treaty there was apparent harmony at 
the council-board. 

Harmony, indeed, was never more necessary; for at 
this moment internal calamities, more formidable than 30 
war itself, menaced Bengal. The authors of the Regulat- 
ing Act of 1773 had established two independent powers, 
the one judicial, the other political; and, with a careless- 
6 



66 WARREN HASTINGS 

ness scandalously common in English legislation, had 
omitted to define the limits of either. The judges took 
advantage of the indistinctness, and attempted to draw 
to themselves supreme authority, not only within Cal- 
5 cutta, but through the whole of the great territory subject 
to the presidency of Fort William. There are few Eng- 
lishmen who will not admit that the English law, in spite 
of modern improvements, is neither so cheap nor so 
speedy as might be wished. Still, it is a system which 

lo has grown up among us. In some points, it has been 
fashioned to suit our feelings; in others, it has gradually 
fashioned our feelings to suit itself. Even to its worst 
evils we are accustomed; and, therefore, though we may 
complain of them, they do not strike us with the horror 

15 and dismay which would be produced by a new grievance 
of smaller severity. In India the case is widely different. 
English law, transplanted to that country, has all the 
vices from which we suffer here; it has them all in a far 
higher degree; and it has other vices, compared with 

20 which the worst vices from which we suffer are trifles. 
Dilatory here, it is far more dilatory in a land where the 
help of an interpreter is needed by every judge and by 
every advocate. Costly here, it is far more costly in a 
land into which the legal practitioners must be imported 

25 from an immense distance. All English labour in India, 
from the labour of the Governor-General and the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, down to that of a groom or a watch- 
maker, must be paid for at a higher rate than at home. 
No man will be banished, and banished to the torrid 

30 zone, for nothing. The rule holds good with respect to 
the legal profession. No English barrister will work, 
fifteen thousand miles from all his friends, with the 
thermometer at ninety-six in the shade, for the emolu- 



WARREN HASTINGS 67 

ments which will content him in chambers that overlook 
the Thames. Accordingly, the fees at Calcutta are about 
three times as great as the fees of Westminster Hall; and 
this, though the people of India are, beyond all compari- 
son, poorer than the people of England. Yet the delay 5 
and the expense, grievous as they are, form the smallest 
part of the evil which English law, imported without 
modifications into India, could not fail to produce. The 
strongest feeUngs of our nature, honour, religion, female 
modesty, rose up against the innovation. Arrest on 10 
mesne process was the first step in most civil proceedings; 
and to a native of rank arrest was not merely a restraint, 
but a foul personal indignity. Oaths were required in 
every stage of every suit; and the feeling of a Quaker about 
an oath is hardly stronger than that of a respectable 15 
native.*^ That the apartments of a woman of quality 
should be entered by strange men, or that her face should 
be seen by them, are, in the East, intolerable outrages, 
outrages which are more dreaded then death, and which 
can be expiated only by the shedding of blood. To these 20 
outrages the most distinguished famihes of Bengal, Bahar, 
and Orissa, were now exposed. Imagine what the state 
of our own country would be, if a jurisprudence were on 
a sudden introduced among us, which should be to us 
what our jurisprudence was to our Asiatic subjects. 25 
Imagine what the state of our country would be, if it 
were enacted that any man, by merely swearing that a 
debt was due to him, should acquire a right to insult the 
persons of men of the most honourable and sacred callings 
and of women of the most shrinking delicacy, to horsewhip 30 
a general officer, to put a bishop in the stocks, to treat 
ladies in the way which called forth the blow of Wat 
Tyler. Something like this was the effect of the attempt 



68 WARREN HASTINGS 

which the Supreme Court made to extend its jurisdiction 
over the whole of the Company's territory. 

A reign of terror began, of terror heightened by mys- 
tery; for even that which was endured was less horrible 
5 than that which was anticipated. No man knew what 
was next to be expected from this strange tribunal. It 
came from beyond the black water, as the people of 
India, with mysterious horror, call the sea. It consisted 
of judges not one of whom was familiar with the usages 

lo of the millions over whom they claimed boundless author- 
ity. Its records were kept in unknown characters; its 
sentences were pronounced in unknown sounds. It had 
already collected round itself an army of the worst part 
of the native population, informers, and false witnesses, 

15 and common barrators, and agents of chicane, and, above 
all, a banditti of bailiff's followers, compared with whom 
the retainers of the worst English spunging-houses, in 
the worst times, might be considered as upright and 
tender-hearted. Many natives, highly considered among 

20 their countrymen, were seized, hurried up to Calcutta, 
flung into the common gaol, not for any crime even 
imputed, not for any debt that had been proved, but 
merely as a precaution till their cause should come to 
trial. There were instances in which men of the most 

25 venerable dignity, persecuted without a cause by extor- 
tioners, died of rage and shame in the gripe of the vile 
alguazils of Impey. The harams of noble Mahom- 
medans, sanctuaries respected in the East, by govern- 
ments which respected nothing else, were burst open 

30 by gangs of bailiffs. The Mussulmans, braver and less 
accustomed to submission than the Hindoos, sometimes 
stood on their defence; and there were instances in which 
they shed their blood in the doorway, while defending. 



WARREN HASTINGS 69 

sword in hand, the sacred apartments of their women. 
Nay, it seemed as if even the faint-hearted Bengalee, who 
had crouched at the feet of Surajah Dowlah, who had been 
mute during the administration of Vansittart, would at 
length find courage in despair. No Mahratta invasion 5 
had ever spread through the province such dismay as this 
inroad of English lawyers'. All the injustice of former 
oppressors, Asiatic and European, appeared as a blessing 
when compared with the justice of the Supreme Court. 

Every class of the population, English and native, with 10 
the exception of the ravenous pettifoggers who fattened 
on the misery and terror of an immense community, 
cried out loudly against this fearful oppression. But the 
judges were immovable. If a bailiff was resisted, they 
ordered the soldiers to be called out. If a servant of the 15 
Company, in conformity with the orders of the govern- 
ment, withstood the miserable catchpoles who, with 
Impey's writs in their hands, exceeded the insolence and 
rapacity of gang-robbers, he was flung into prison for a 
contempt. The lapse of sixty years, the virtue and wis- 20 
dom of many eminent magistrates who have during that 
time administered justice in the Supreme Court, have not 
effaced from the minds of the people of Bengal the recol- 
lection of those evil days. 

The members of the government were, on this subject, 25 
united as one man. Hastings had courted the judges; 
he had found them useful instruments. But he was not 
disposed to make them his own masters, or the masters of 
India. His mind was large; his knowledge of the native 
character most accurate. He saw that the system pur- 30 
sued by the Supreme Court was degrading to the govern- 
ment and ruinous to the people ; and he resolved to oppose 
it manfully. The consequence was, that the friendship, 



70 WARREN HASTINGS 

if that be the proper word for such a connection, which 
had existed between him and Impey, was for a time 
completely dissolved. The government placed itself 
firmly between the tyrannical tribunal and the people. 
5 The Chief Justice proceeded to the wildest excesses. 
The Governor- General and all the members of Council 
were served with writs, calHng" on them to appear before 
the King's justices, and to answer for their public acts. 
This was too much. Hastings, with just scorn, refused 

10 to obey the call, set at liberty the persons wrongfully 
detained by the Court, and took measures for resisting 
the outrageous proceedings of the sheriff's officers, if 
necessary, by the sword. But he had in view another 
device which might prevent the necessity of an appeal 

15 to arms. He was seldom at a loss for an expedient; and 
he knew Impey well. The expedient, in this case, was 
a very simple one, neither more nor less than a bribe. 
Impey was, by act of parhament, a judge, independent 
of the government of Bengal, and entitled to a salary of 

20 eight thousand a year. Hastings proposed to make him 
also a judge in the Company's service, removable at the 
pleasure of the government of Bengal; and to give him, 
in that capacity, about eight thousand a year more. It 
was understood that, in consideration of this new salary, 

25 Impey would desist from urging the high pretensions of his 
court. If he did urge these pretensions, the government 
could, at a moment's notice, eject him from the new place 
which had been created for him. The bargain was struck; 
Bengal was saved; an appeal to force was averted; and 

30 the Chief Justice was rich, quiet, and infamous. 

Of Impey's conduct it is unnecessary to speak. It 
was of a piece with almost every part of his conduct that 
comes under the notice of history. No other such judge 



WARREN HASTINGS 71 

has dishonoured the English ermine, since Jeffreys drank 
himself to death in the Tower. But we cannot agree 
with those who have blamed Hastings for this transac- 
tion. The case stood thus. The negligent manner in 
which the Regulating Act had been framed put it in the 5 
power of the Chief Justice to throw a great country into 
the most dreadful confusion. He was determined to use 
his power to the utmost, unless he was paid to be still: 
and Hastings consented to pay him. The necessity was 
to be deplored. It is also to be deplored that pirates 10 
should be able to exact ransom by threatening to make 
their captives walk the plank. But to ransom a captive 
from pirates has always been held a humane and Chris- 
tian act; and it would be absurd to charge the payer of the 
ransom with corrupting the virtue of the corsair. This, 15 
we seriously think, is a not unfair illustration of the rela- 
tive position of Impey, Hastings, and the people of India. 
/Whether it was right in Impey to demand or to accept a 
price for powers which, if they really belonged to him, he 
could not abdicate, which, if they did not belong to him, 20 
he ought never to have usurped, and which in neither case 
he could honestly sell, is one question. It is quite another 
question, whether Hastings was not right to give any sum, 
however large, to any man, however worthless, rather 
than either surrender millions of human beings to pillage, 25 
or rescue them by civil war. 

Francis strongly opposed this arrangement. It may, 
indeed, be suspected that personal aversion to Impey was 
as strong a motive with Francis as regard for the welfare 
of the province. To a mind burning with resentment, 30 
it might seem better to leave Bengal to the oppressors 
than to redeem it by enriching them. It is not improb- 
able, on the other hand, that Hastings may have been 



72 WARREN HASTINGS 

the more willing to resort to an expedient agreeable to 
the Chief Justice, because that high functionary had 
already been so serviceable, and might, when existing 
dissensions were composed, be serviceable again. 
5 But it was not on this point alone that Francis was 
now opposed to Hastings. The peace between them 
proved to be only a short and hollow truce, during which 
their mutual aversion was constantly becoming stronger. 
At length an explosion took place. Hastings publicly 

10 charged Francis with having deceived him, and with 
having induced Barwell to quit the service by insincere 
promises. Then came a dispute, such as frequently arises 
even between honourable men, when they may make 
important agreements by mere verbal communication. 

15 An impartial historian will probably be of opinion that 
they had misunderstood each other; but their minds were 
so much embittered that they imputed to each other noth- 
ing less than deliberate villany. '' I do not," said Hastings, 
in a minute recorded on the Consultations of the Govern- 

2oment, "I do not trust to Mr. Francis's promises of can- 
dour, convinced that he is incapable of it. I judge of 
his pubhc conduct by his private, which I have found 
to be void of truth and honour." After the Council had 
risen, Francis put a challenge into the Governor-General's 

25 hand. It was instantly accepted. They met, and fired. 
Francis was shot through the body. He was carried to 
a neighbouring house, where it appeared that the wound, 
though severe, was not mortal. Hastings inquired 
repeatedly after his enemy's health, and proposed to call 

30 on him; but Francis coldly declined the visit. He had 
a proper sense, he said, of the Governor-General's polite- 
ness, but could not consent to any private interview. 
They could meet otily at the council-board. 



WARREN HASTINGS 73 

In a very short time it was made signally manifest to 
how great a danger the Governor- General had, on this 
occasion, exposed his country. A crisis arrived with which 
he, and he alone, was competent to deal. It is not too 
much to say that, if he had been taken from the head of 5 
affairs, the years 1780 and 1781 would have been as fatal 
to our power in Asia as to our power in America. 

The Mahrattas had been the chief objects of apprehen- 
sion to Hastings. The measures which he had adopted 
for the purpose of breaking their power, had at first been 10 
frustrated by the errors of those whom he was compelled 
to employ; but his perseverance and ability seemed likely 
to be crowned with success, when a far more formidable 
danger showed itself in a distant quarter. 

About thirty years before this time, a Mahommedan 15 
soldier had begun to distinguish himself in the wars of 
Southern India. His education had been neglected; his 
extraction was humble. His father had been a petty 
officer of revenue; his grandfather a wandering dervise. 
But though thus meanly descended, though ignorant 20 
even of the alphabet, the adventurer had no sooner been 
placed at the head of a body of troops than he approved 
himself a man born for conquest and command. Among 
the crowd of chiefs who were struggling for a share of 
India, none could compare with him in the qualities of 25 
the captain and the statesman. He became a general; he 
became a sovereign. Out of the fragments of old prin- 
cipalities, which had gone to pieces in the general wreck, 
he formed for himself a great, compact, and vigorous 
empire. That empire he ruled with the abihty, severity, 30 
and vigilance of Louis the Eleventh. Licentious in his 
pleasures, implacable in his revenge, he had yet enlarge- 
ment of mind enough to perceive how much the prosperity 



74 WARREN HASTINGS 

of subjects adds to the strength of governments. He 
was an oppressor; but he had at least the merit of pro- 
tecting his people against all oppression except his own. 
He was now in extreme old age; but his intellect was as 
5 clear, and his spirit as high, as in the prime of manhood. 
Such was the great Hyder AU, the founder of the Mahom- 
medan kingdom of Mysore, and the most formidable 
enemy with whom the English conquerors of India have 
ever had to contend. 

lo Had Hastings been governor of Madras, Hyder would 
have been, either made a friend, or vigorously encountered 
as an enemy. Unhappily the English authorities in the 
south provoked their powerful neighbour's hostihty, 
without being prepared to repel it. On a sudden, an 

15 army of ninety thousand men, far superior in discipline 
and efficiency to any other native force that could be 
found in India, came pouring through those wild passes 
which, worn by mountain torrents, and dark with jungle, 
lead down from the table-land of Mysore to the plains 

20 of the Carnatic. This great army was accompanied by 
a hundred pieces of cannon; and its movements were 
guided by many French officers, trained in the best mili- 
tary schools of Europe. 

Hyder was everywhere triumphant. The sepoys in 

25 many British garrisons flung down their arms. Some forts 
were surrendered by treachery, and some by despair. In 
a few days the whole open country north of the Coleroon 
had submitted. The EngUsh inhabitants of Madras could 
already see by night, from the top of Mount St. Thomas, 

30 the eastern sky reddened by a vast semicircle of blazing 
villages. The white villas, to which our countrymen retire 
after the daily labours of government and of trade, when 
the cool evening breeze springs up from the bay, were 



WARREN HASTINGS 75 

now left without inhabitants; for bands of the fierce horse- 
men of Mysore had already been seen prowUng among 
the tulip-trees, and near the gay verandas. Even the 
town was not thought secure, and the British merchants 
and public functionaries made haste to crowd themselves 5 
behind the cannon of Fort St. George. 

There were the means indeed of assembhng an army 
which might have defended the presidency, and even 
driven the invader back to his mountains. Sir Hector 
Munro was at the head of one considerable force; BailHe 10 
was advancing with another. United, they might have 
presented a formidable front even to such an enemy as 
Hyder. But the English commanders, neglecting those 
fundamental rules of the military art of which the pro- 
priety is obvious even to men who had never received a 15 
military education, deferred their junction, and were 
separately attacked. BaiUie's detachment was destroyed. 
Munro was forced to abandon his baggage, to fling his 
guns into the tanks, and to save himself by a retreat 
which might be called a flight. In three weeks from the 20 
commencement of the war, the British empire in Southern 
India had been brought to the verge of ruin. Only a few 
fortified places remained to us. The glory of our arms 
had departed. It was known that a great French expedi- 
tion might soon be expected on the coast of Coromandel. 25 
England, beset by enemies on every side, was in no con- 
dition to protect such remote dependencies. 

Then it was that the fertile genius and serene courage 
of Hastings achieved their most signal triumph. A swift 
ship, flying before the south-west monsoon, brought the 30 
evil tidings in few days to Calcutta. In twenty-four 
hours the Governor-General had framed a complete plan 
of policy adapted to the altered state of affairs. The 



76 WARREN HASTINGS 

struggle with Hyder was a struggle for life and death. 
All minor objects must be sacrificed to the preservation 
of the Carnatic. The disputes with the Mahrattas must 
be accommodated. A large mihtary force and a supply 
5 of money must be instantly sent to Madras. But even 
these measures would be insufficient, unless the war, 
hitherto so grossly mismanaged, were placed under the 
direction of a vigorous mind. It was no time for trifling. 
Hastings determined to resort to an extreme exercise 

10 of power, to suspend the incapable governor of Fort St. 
George, to send Sir Eyre Coote to oppose Hyder, and to 
intrust that distinguished general with the whole admin- 
istration of the war. 

In spite of the sullen opposition of Francis, who had 

15 now recovered from his wound, and had returned to the 
Council, the Governor-General's wise and firm policy 
was approved by the majority of the board. The rein- 
forcements were sent off with great expedition, and 
reached Madras before the French armament arrived 

20 in the Indian seas. Coote, broken by age and disease, 
was no longer the Coote of Wandewash; but he was still 
a resolute and skilful commander. The progress of 
Hyder was arrested; and in a few months the great vic- 
tory of Porto Novo retrieved the honour of the English 

25 arms. 

In the mean time Francis had returned to England, 
and Hastings was now left perfectly unfettered. Wheler 
had gradually been relaxing in his opposition, and, after 
the departure of his vehement and implacable colleague, 

30 co-operated heartily with the Governor-General, whose 
influence over the British in India, always great, had, by 
the vigour and success of his recent measures, been con- 
siderably increased. 



WARREN HASTINGS 



77 



But, though the difficulties arising from factions within 
the Council were at an end, another class of difficulties had 
become more pressing than ever. The financial embar- 
rassment was extreme. Hastings had to find the means, 
not only of carrying on the government of Bengal, but of 5 
maintaining a most costly war against both Indian and 
European enemies in the Carnatic, and of making remit- 
tances to England. A few years before this time he had 
obtained reUef by plundering the Mogul and enslaving 
the Rohillas; nor were the resources of his fruitful mind 10 
by any means exhausted. 

His first design was on Benares, a city which in wealth, 
population, dignity, and sanctity, was among the foremost 
of Asia. It was commonly believed that half a milHon 
of human beings #as crowded into that labyrinth of 15 
lofty alleys, rich with shrines, and minarets, and bal- 
conies, and carved oriels, to which the sacred apes clung 
by hundreds. The traveller could scarcely make his way 
through the press of holy mendicants and not less holy 
bulls. The broad and stately ffights of steps which 20 
descended from these swarming haunts to the bathing- 
places along the Ganges were worn every day by the foot- 
steps of an innumerable multitude of worshippers. The 
schools and temples drew crowds of pious Hindoos from 
every province where the Brahminical faith was known. 25 
Hundreds of devotees came thither every month to die: 
for it was believed that a peculiarly happy fate awaited 
the man who should pass from the sacred city into the 
sacred river. Nor was superstition the only motive which 
allured strangers to that great metropolis. Commerce 30 
had as many pilgrims as religion. All along the shores 
of the venerable stream lay great fleets of vessels laden 
with rich merchandise. From the looms of Benares went 



78 WARREN HASTINGS 

forth the most dehcate silks that adorned the balls of 
St. James's and of the Petit Trianon : and in the bazaai-s 
the muslins of Bengal and the sabres of Oude were mingled 
with the jewels of Golconda and the shawls of Cashmere. 
5 This rich capital, and the surrounding tract, had long 
been under the immediate rule of a Hindoo prince who 
rendered homage to the Mogul emperors. During the 
great anarchy of India the lords of Benares became 
independent of the court of Delhi, but were compelled 

10 to submit to the authority of the Nabob of Oude. 
Oppressed by this formidable neighbour, they invoked the 
protection of the English. The English protection was 
given; and at length the Nabob Vizier, by a solemn 
treaty, ceded all his rights over Benares to the Company. 

15 From that time the Rajah was the vassal of the govern- 
ment of Bengal, acknowledged its supremacy, and engaged 
to send an annual tribute to Fort William. /This tribute 
Cheyte Sing, the reigning prince, had paid with strict 
punctuality. 

20 Respecting the precise nature of the legal relation 
between the Company and the Rajah of Benares, there 
has been much warm and acute controversy. On the 
one side, it has been maintained that Cheyte Sing was 
merely a great subject on whom the superior power had a 

25 right to call for aid in the necessities of the empire.^ On 
the other side it has been contended that he was an 
independent prince, that the only claim which the Com- 
pany had upon him was for a fixed tribute, and that, 
while the fixed tribute w^as regularly paid, as it assuredly 

30 was, the English had no more right to exact any further 
contribution from him than to demand subsidies from 
Holland or Denmark. * Nothing is easier than to find 
precedents and analogies in favour of either view. 



WARREN HASTINGS 79 

Our own impression is that neither view is correct. It 
was too much the habit of EngUsh poUticians to take it 
for granted that there was in India a known and definite 
constitution by which questions of this kind were to be 
decided. The truth is that, during the interval which 5 
elapsed' between the fall of the House of Tamerlane and 
the establishment of the British ascendency, there was 
no such constitution. The old order of things had passed 
away: the new order of things was not yet formed. All 
was transition, confusion, obscurity. Everybody kept 10 
his head as he best might, and scrambled for whatever he 
could get. There have been similar seasons in Europe. 
The time for the dissolution of the Carlovingian empire 
is an instance. Who would think of seriously discussing 
the question, what extent of pecuniary aid and of obedi- 15 
ence Hugh Capet had a constitutional right to demand 
from the Duke of Brittany or the Duke of Normandy? 
The words "constitutional right" had, in that state of 
society, no meaning. If Hugh Capet laid hands on all 
the possessions of the Duke of Normandy, this might 20 
be unjust and immoral; but it would not be illegal, in the 
sense in which the ordinances of Charles the Tenth were 
illegal. If, on the other hand, the Duke of Normandy 
made war on Hugh Capet, this might be unjust and 
immoral; but it would not be illegal, in the sense in which 25 
the expedition of Prince Louis Bonaparte was illegal. 

Very similar to this was the state of India sixty years 
ago. Of the existing governments not a single one could 
lay claim to legitimacy, or could plead any other title than 
recent occupation. There was scarcely a province in 30 
which the real sovereignty and the nominal sovereignty 
were not disjoined. Titles and forms were still retained 
which implied that the heir of Tamerlane was an absolute 



8o WARREN HASTINGS 

ruler, and that the Nabobs of the provinces were his Ueu- 
tenants. In reality, he was a captive. The Nabobs were 
in some places independent princes. In other places, as 
in Bengal and the Carnatic, they had, like their master, 
5 become mere phantoms, and the Company was supreme. 
Among the Mahrattas again the heir of Sevajee still kept 
the title of Rajah; but he was a prisoner, and his prime 
minister, the Peshwa, had become hereditary chief of the 
state. The Peshwa, in his turn, was fast sinking into 

lo the same degraded situation to which he had reduced the 
Rajah. 'It was, we believe, impossible to find, from the 
Himalayas to Mysore, a single government which was at 
once a government de facto and a government de jure] 
which possessed the physical means of making itself 

15 feared by its neighbours and subjects, and which had at 
the same time the authority derived from law and long 
prescription. 

Hastings clearly discerned, what was hidden from most 
of his contemporaries, that such a state of things gave 

20 immense advantages to a ruler of great talents and few 
scruples. In every international question that could 
arise, he had his option between the de facto ground and 
the de jure ground; and the probability was that one of 
those grounds would sustain any claim that it might 

25 be convenient for him to make, and enable him to resist 
any claim made by others. In^every controversy, accord- 
ingly, he resorted to the plea which suited his imme- 
diate purpose, without troubling himself in the least 
about consistency; and thus he scarcely ever failed to 

30 find what, to persons of short memories and scanty infor- 
mation, seemed to be a justification for what he wanted 
to do. Sometimes the Nabob of Bengal is a shadow, 
sometimes a monarch. Sometimes the Vizier is a mere 



WARREN HASTINGS 8i 

deputy, sometimes an independent potentate. If it is 
expedient for the Company to show some legal title to 
the revenues of Bengal, the grant under the seal of the 
Mogul is brought forward as an instrument of the highest 
authority. When the Mogul asks for the rents which 5 
were reserved to him by that very grant, he is told that 
he is a mere pageant, that the English power rests on a 
very different foundation from a charter given by him, 
that he is welcome to play at royalty as long as he likes, 
but that he must expect no tribute from the real masters 10 
of India. 

It is true that it was in the power of others, as well as 
of Hastings, to practise this legerdemain; but in the con- 
troversies of governments, sophistry is of little use unless 
it be backed by power. There is a principle which 15 
Hastings was fond of asserting in the strongest terms, 
and on which he acted with undeviating steadiness. It 
is a principle which, we must own, though it may be 
grossly abused, can hardly be disputed in the present 
state of public law. It is this, that where an ambiguous 20 
question arises between two governments, there is, if they 
cannot agree, no appeal except to force, and that the 
opinion of the stronger must prevail. Almost every ques- 
tion was ambiguous in India. The English government 
was the strongest in India. The consequences are obvious. 25 
The English government might do exactly what it chose. 

The English government now chose to wring money 
out of Cheyte Sing. It had formerly been convenient 
to treat him as a sovereign prince; it was now convenient 
to treat him as a subject. Dexterity inferior to that of 30 
Hastings could easily find, in the general chaos of laws 
and customs, arguments for either course. Hastings 
wanted a great supply. /It was known that Cheyte Sing 
7 



82 WARREN HASTINGS 

had a large revenue, and it was suspected that he had 
accumulated a treasure. Nor was he a favourite at 
Calcutta. I He had, when the Governor- General was in 
great difficulties, courted the favour of Francis and 
5 Clavering. Hastings who, less we believe from evil pas- 
sions than from policy, seldom left an injury unpun- 
ished, was not sorry that the fate of Cheyte Sing should 
teach neighbouring princes the same lesson which the 
fate of Nuncomar had already impressed on the inhqibi- 

lo tants of Bengal. 

In 1778, on the first breaking out of the war with 
France, Cheyte Sing was called upon to pay, in addition 
to his fixed tribute, an extraordinary contribution of 
fifty thousand pounds. In 1779, an equal sum was 

15 exacted. In 1780, the demand was renewed. Cheyte 
Sing, in the hope of obtaining some indulgence, secretly 
offered the Governor-General a bribe of twenty thousand 
pounds. Hastings took the money, and his enemies 
have maintained that he took it intending to keep it. 

20 He certainly concealed the transaction, for a time, both 
from the Council in Bengal and from the Directors at 
home; nor did he ever give any satisfactory reason for 
the concealment. Public spirit, or the fear of detection, 
however, determined him to withstand the temptation. 

25 He paid over the bribe to the Company's treasury, and 
insisted that the Rajah should instantly comply with 
the demands of the English government. The Rajah, 
after the fashion of his countrymen, shuffled, soUcited, 
and pleaded poverty. The grasp of Hastings was not to 

30 be so eluded. He added to the requisition another ten 
thousand pounds as a fine for delay, and sent troops to 
exact the money. 
The money was paid. But this was not enough. The 



WARREN HASTINGS ^t, 

late events in the south of India had increased the finan- 
cial embarrassments of the Company. Hastings was 
determined to plunder Cheyte Sing, and, for that end, 
.to fasten a quarrel on him. Accordingly, the Rajah was 
now required to keep a body of cavalry for the service 5 
of the British government. He objected and evaded. 
This was exactly what the Governor-General wanted. 
He had now a pretext for treating the wealthiest of his 
vassals as a criminal. " I resolved " — these are the words 
of Hastings himself — 'Ho draw from his guilt the means 10 
of relief to the Company's distresses, to make him pay 
largely for his pardon, or to exact a severe vengeance 
for past delinquency." ^The plan was simply this, to de- 
mand larger and larger contributions till the Rajah should 
be driven to remonstrate, then to call his remonstrance 15 
a crime, and to punish him by confiscating all his posses- 
sions. 1 " 

Cheyte Sing was in the greatest dismay. He offered 
two hundred thousand pounds to propitiate the British 
government. But Hastings repMed that nothing less than 20 
half a million would be accepted. Nay, he began to think 
of selling Benares to Oude, as he had formerly sold Alla- 
habad and Rohilcund. The matter was one which could 
not be well managed at a distance; and Hastings resolved 
to visit Benares. 25 

Cheyte Sing received his liege lord with every mark of 
reverence, came near sixty miles, with his guards, to meet 
and escort the illustrious visitor, and expressed his deep 
concern at the displeasure of the English. He even took 
off his turban, and laid it in the lap of Hastings, a gesture 30 
which in India marks the most profound submission and 
devotion. Hastings behaved with cold and repulsive 
severity. Having arrived at Benares, he sent to the Rajah 



84 WARREN HASTINGS 

a paper containing the demands of the government of 
Bengal. The Rajah, in reply, attempted to clear hirri- 
self from the accusations brought against him. Hastings, 
who wanted money and not excuses, was not to be put 
5 off by the ordinary artifices of Eastern negotiation. He 
instantly ordered the Rajah to be arrested and placed 
under the custody of two companies of sepoys. 

In taking these strong measures, Hastings scarcely 
showed his usual judgment. It is probable that, having 

lo had little opportunity of personally observing any part 
of the population of India, except the Bengalees, he was 
not fully aware of the difference between their character 
and that of the tribes which inhabit the upper provinces. 
He was now in a land far more favourable to the vigour 

15 of the human frame than the Delta of the Ganges; in a 

land fruitful of soldiers, who have been found worthy 

to follow English battalions to the charge and into the 

breach. The Rajah was popular among his subjects. 

* His administration had been mild; and the prosperity 

20 of the district which he governed presented a striking 
contrast to the depressed state of Bahar under our rule, 
and a still more striking contrast to the misery of the 
provinces which were cursed by the tyranny of the Nabob 
Vizier. The national and religious prejudices with which 

25 the English were regarded throughout India were pecul- 
iarly intense in the metropolis of the Brahminical super- 
stition. It can therefore scarcely be doubted that the 
Governor-General, before he outraged the dignity of 
Cheyte Sing by an arrest, ought to have assembled a 

30 force capable of bearing down all opposition. This had 
not been done. The handful of sepoys who attended 
Hastings would probably have been sufficient to over- 
awe Moorshedabad, or the Black Town of Calcutta. 



WARREN HASTINGS 85 

But they were unequal to a conflict with the hardy rabble 
of Benares. The streets surrounding the palace were 
filled by an immense multitude, of whom a large propor- 
tion, as is usual in Upper India, wore arms. The tumult 
became a fight, and the fight a massacre. The EngUsh 5 
officers defended themselves with desperate courage 
against overwhelming numbers, and fell, as became them, 
sword in hand. The sepoys were butchered. The gates 
were forced. The captive prince, neglected by his jailers 
during the confusion, discovered an outlet which opened 10 
on the precipitous bank of the Ganges, let himself down 
to the water by a string made of the turbans of his attend- 
ants, found a boat, and escaped to the opposite shore. 

If Hastings had, by indiscreet violence, brought himself 
into a difficult and perilous situation, it is only just to 15 
acknowledge that he extricated himself with even more 
than his usual ability and presence of mind. He had 
only fifty men with him. The building in which he had 
taken up his residence was on every side blockaded by 
the insurgents. But his fortitude remained unshaken. 20 
The Rajah from the other side of the river sent apologies 
and liberal offers. They were not even answered. Some 
subtle and enterprising men were found who undertook 
to pass through the throng of enemies, and to convey the 
intelligence of the late events to the EngUsh cantonments. 25 
It is the fashion of the natives of India to wear large ear- 
rings of gold. When they travel, the rings are laid aside, 
lest the precious metal should tempt some gang of robbers, 
and, in place of the ring, a quill or a roll of paper is inserted 
in the orifice to prevent it from closing. Hastings placed 30 
in the ears of his messengers letters rolled up in the small- 
est compass. Some of these letters were addressed to the 
commanders of the EngUsh troops. One was written to 



86 WARREN HASTINGS 

assure his wife of his safety. One was to the envoy whom 
he had sent to negotiate with the Mahrattas. Instruc- 
tions for the negotiation were needed; and the Governor- 
General framed them in that situation of extreme danger, 
5 with as much composure as if he had been writing in his 
palace at Calcutta. 

Things, however, were not yet at the worst. An English 
ofhcer of more spirit than judgment, eager to distinguish 
himself, made a premature attack on the insurgents beyond 

10 the river. His troops were entangled in narrow streets, 
and assailed by a furious population. He fell, with many 
of his men; and the survivors were forced to retire. 

This event produced the effect which has never failed 
to follow every check, however slight, sustained in India 

15 by the English arms. For hundreds of miles round, the 
whole country was in commotion. The entire popula- 
tion of the district of Benares took arms. The fields 
were abandoned by the husbandmen, who thronged to 
defend their prince. The infection spread to Oude. The 

20 oppressed people of that province rose up against the 
Nabob Vizier, refused to pay their imposts, and put 
the revenue officers to flight. Even Bahar was ripe for 
revolt. The hopes of Cheyte Sing began to rise. Instead 
of imploring mercy in the humble style of a vassal, he 

25 began to talk the language of a conqueror, and threat- 
ened, it was said, to sweep the white usurpers out of the 
land. But the English troops were now assembling fast. 
The officers, and even the private men, regarded the 
Governor-General with enthusiastic attachment, and 

30 flew to his aid with an alacrity which, as he boasted, had 
never been shown on any other occasion. Major Popham, 
a brave and skilful soldier, who had highly distinguished 
himself in the Mahratta war, and in whom the Governor- 



WARREN HASTINGS 87 

General reposed the greatest confidence, took the com- 
mand. The tumultuary army of the Rajah was put to 
rout. His fastnesses were stormed. In a few hours, 
above thirty thousand men left his standard, and returned 
to their ordinary avocations. The unhappy prince fled 5 
from his country for ever. His fair domain was added 
to the British dominions. One of his relations indeed 
was appointed rajah; but the Rajah of Benares was hence- 
forth to be, like the Nabob of Bengal, a mere pensioner. 

By this revolution, an addition of two hundred thou- 10 
sand pounds a year was made to the revenues of the 
Company. But the immediate relief was not as great 
as had been expected. The treasure laid up by Cheyte 
Sing had been popularly estimated at a million sterling. 
It turned out to be about a fourth part of that sum; and, 15 
such as it was, it was seized by the army, and divided as 
prize-money. 

Disappointed in his expectations from Benares, Hastings 
was more violent than he would otherwise have been, in 
his dealings with Oude. Sujah Dowlah had long been 20 
dead. His son and successor, Asaph-ul-Dowlah, was one 
of the weakest and most vicious even of Eastern princes. 
His life was divided between torpid repose and the most 
odious forms of sensuality. In his court there was bound- 
less waste, throughout his dominions wretchedness and 25 
disorder. He had been, under the skilful management 
of the English government, gradually sinking from the 
rank of an independent prince to that of a vassal of the 
Company. It was only by the help of a British brigade 
that he could be secure from the aggressions of neigh- 30 
hours who depised his weakness, and from the vengeance 
of subjects who detested his tyranny. A brigade was 
furnished; and he engaged to defray the charge of paying 



88 WARREN HASTINGS 

and maintaining it. From that time his independence 
was at an end. Hastings was not a man to lose the advan- 
tage which he had thus gained. The Nabob soon began 
to complain of the burden which he had undertaken to 
5 bear. His revenues, he said, were falling off; his servants 
were unpaid; he could no longer support the expense 
of the arrangement which he had sanctioned. Hastings 
would not listen to these representations. The Vizier, 
he said, had invited the Government of Bengal to send 

10 him troops, and had promised to pay for them. The 
troops had been sent. How long the troops were to 
remain in Gude was a matter not settled by the treaty. 
It remained, therefore, to be settled between the contract- 
ing parties. But the contracting parties differed. Who 

15 then must decide? The stronger. 

Hastings also argued that, if the English force was 
withdrawn, Gude would certainly become a prey to 
anarchy, and would probably be overrun by a Mahratta 
army. That the finances of Gude were embarrassed 

20 he admitted. But he contended, not without reason, 
that the embarrassment was to be attributed to the 
incapacity and vices of Asaph-ul-Dowlah himself, and 
that, if less were spent on the troops, the only effect 
would be that more would be squandered on worthless 

25 favourites. 

Hastings had intended, after settling the affairs of 
Benares, to visit Lucknow, and there to confer with 
Asaph-ul-Dowlah. But the obsequious courtesy of the 
Nabob Vizier prevented this visit. With a small train 

30 he hastened to meet the Governor-General. An inter- 
view took place in the fortress which, from the crest of 
the precipitous rock of Chunar, looks down on the waters 
of the Ganges. 



WARREN HASTINGS 89 

At first sight it might appear impossible that the negotia- 
tion should come to an amicable close. Hastings wanted 
an extraordinary supply of money. Asaph-ul-Dowlah 
wanted to obtain a remission of what he already owed. 
Such a difference seemed to admit of no compromise. 5 
There was, however, one course satisfactory to both 
sides, one course by which it was possible to relieve the 
finances both of Oude and of Bengal; and that course 
was adopted. It was simply this, that the Governor- 
General and the Nabob Vizier should join to rob a third 10 
party; and the third party whom they determined to rob 
was the parent of one of the robbers. 

The mother of the late Nabob, and his wife, who was 
the mother of the present Nabob, were known as the 
Begums or Princesses of Oude. They had possessed great 15 
influence over Sujah Dowlah, and had, at his death, been 
left in possession of a splendid dotation. The domains 
of which they received the rents and administered the 
government were of wide extent. The treasure hoarded 
by the late Nabob, a treasure which was popularly esti- 20 
mated at near three millions sterling, was in their hands. 
They continued to occupy his favourite palace at Fyzabad, 
the Beautiful Dwelling; while Asaph-ul-Dowlah held his 
court in the stately Lucknow, which he had built for him- 
self on the shores of the Goomti, and had adorned with 25 
noble mosques and colleges. 

Asaph-ul-Dowlah had already extorted considerable 
sums from his mother. She had at length appealed to 
the EngHsh; and the EngHsh had interfered. A solemn 
compact had been made, by which she consented to give 30 
her son some pecuniary assistance, and he in his turn 
promised never to commit any further invasion of her 
rights. This compact was formally guaranteed by the 



90 WARREN HASTINGS 

goverj:iment of Bengal. But times had changed; money 
was wanted; and the power which had given the guarah- 
tee was not ashamed to instigate the spoiler to excesses 
such that even he shrank from them. 
5 It was necessary to find some pretext for a confiscation 
inconsistent, not merely with plighted faith, not merely 
with the ordinary rules of humanity and justice, but also 
with that great law of filial piety which, even in the 
wildest tribes of savages, even in those more degraded 

10 communities which wither under the influence of a cor- 
rupt half -civilization, retains a certain authority over 
the human mind. A pretext was the last thing that 
Hastings was likely to want. The insurrection at Benares 
had produced disturbances in Oude. These disturbances 

15 it was convenient to impute to the Princesses. Evidence 
for the imputation there was scarcely any; unless reports 
wandering from one mouth to another, and gaining 
something by every transmission, may be called evidence. 
The accused were furnished with no charge; they were 

20 permitted to make no defence; for the Governor-General 
wisely considered that, if he tried them, he might not 
be able to find a ground for plundering them. It was 
agreed between him and the Nabob Vizier that the noble 
ladies should, by a sweeping measure of confiscation, 

25 be stripped of their domains and treasures for the benefit 
of the Company, and that the sums thus obtained should 
be accepted by the government of Bengal in satisfaction 
of its claims on the government of Oude. 

While Asaph-ul-Dowlah was at Chunar, he was com- 

30 pletely subjugated by the clear and commanding intellect 
of the English statesman. But when they had separated, 
the Vizier began to reflect with uneasiness on the engage- 
ment into which he had entered. His mother and grand- 



WARREN HASTINGS 91 

mother protested and implored. His heart, deeply 
corrupted by absolute power and licentious pleasures, 
yet not naturally unfeeling, failed him in this crisis. Even 
the English resident at Lucknow, though hitherto devoted 
to Hastings, shrank from extreme measures. But the 5 
Governor-General was inexorable^ He wrote to the 
resident in terms of the greatest severity, and declared 
that, if the spoliation which had been agreed upon were 
not instantly carried into effect, he would himself go to 
Lucknow, and do that from which feebler minds recoil 10 
with dismay. The resident, thus menaced, waited on 
his Highness, and insisted that the treaty of Chunar 
should be carried into full and immediate effect. Asaph- 
ul-Dowlah yielded, making at the same time a solemn 
protestation that he yielded to compulsion. The lands 15 
were resumed; but the treasure was not so easily obtained. 
It was necessary to use violence. A body of the Com- 
pany's troops marched to Fyzabad, and forced the gates 
of the palace. The Princesses were confined to their 
own apartments. But still they refused to submit. 20 
Some more stringent mode of coercion was to be found. 
A mode w^as found of which, even at this distance of time, 
we cannot speak without shame and sorrow. 

There were at Fyzabad two ancient men, belonging to 
that unhappy class which a practice, of immemorial an- 25 
tiquity in the East, has excluded from the pleasures of 
love and from the hope of posterity. It has always been 
held in Asiatic courts that beings thus estranged from 
sympathy with their kind are those whom princes may 
most safely trust. Sujah Dowlah had been of this 30 
opinion. He had given his entire confidence to the two 
eunuchs; and after his death they remained at the head 
of the household of his widow. 



92 WARREN HASTINGS 

These two men were, by the orders of the British 
government, seized, imprisoned, ironed, starved almost 
to death, in order to extort money from the Princesses, 
After they had been two months in confinement, their 
5 health gave way. They implored permission to take 
a Httle exercise in the garden of their prison. The officer 
who was in charge of them stated that, if they were 
allowed this indulgence, there was not the smallest 
chance of their escaping, and that their irons really added 

lo nothing to the security of the custody in which they were 
kept. He did not understand the plan of his superiors. 
Their object in these inflictions was not security but 
torture; and all mitigation was refused. Yet this was 
not the w^orst. It was resolved by an English govern- 

15 ment that these two infirm old men should be delivered 
to the tormentors. For that purpose they were removed 
to Lucknow. What horrors their dungeon there witnessed 
can only be guessed. But there remains on the records 
of Parliament, this letter, written by a British resident 

20 to a British soldier. 

"Sir, the Nabob having determined to inflict corporal 
punishment upon the prisoners under your guard, this 
is to desire that his officers, when they shall come, may 
have free access to the prisoners, and be permitted to do' 

25 with them as they shall see proper." 

While these barbarities were perpetrated at Lucknow, 
the Princesses were still under duresse at Fyzabad. 
Food was allowed to enter their apartments only in such 
scanty quantities that their female attendants were in 

30 danger of perishing with hunger. Month after month 
this cruelty, continued, till at length, after twelve hun- 
dred thousand pounds had been wrung out of the Prin- 
cesses, Hastings began to think that he had really got 



WARREN HASTINGS 93 

to the bottom of their revenue, and that no rigour could 
extort more. Then at length the wretched men who 
were detained at Lucknow regained their liberty. When 
their irons were knocked off, and the doors of their prison 
opened, their quivering lips, the tears which ran down 5 
their cheeks, and the thanksgivings which they poured 
forth to the common Father of Mussulmans and Chris- 
tians, melted even the stout hearts of the Enghsh warriors 
who stood by. 

There is a man to whom the conduct of Hastings, 10 
through the whole of these proceedings, appears not only 
excusable but laudable. There is a man who tells us that 
he "must really be pardoned if he ventures to character- 
ize as something preeminently ridiculous and wicked, 
the sensibility which would balance against the preserva- 15, 
tion of British India a little personal suffering, which was 
applied only so long as the sufferers refused to deliver up 
a portion of that wealth, the whole of which their own 
and their mistresses' treason had forfeited." We cannot, 
we must own, envy the reverend biographer, either his 20 
singular notion of what constitutes preeminent wickedness, 
or his equally singular perception of the preeminently 
ridiculous. Is this the generosity of an English soldier? 
Is this the charity of a Christian priest? Could neither 
of Mr. Gleig's professions teach him the first rudiments 25, 
of morality? Or is morality a thing which may be well 
enough in sermons, but which has nothing to do with 
biography? 

But we must not forget to do justice to Sir Elijah 
Impey's conduct on this occasion. It was not indeed 30 
easy for him to intrude himself into a business so entirely 
alien from all his ofj&cial duties. But there was something 
inexpressibly alluring, we must suppose, in the pecuHar 



94 WARREN HASTINGS 

rankness of the infamy which was then to be got at 
Lucknow. He hurried thither as fast as relays of palan- 
quin-bearers could carry him. A crowd of people came 
before him with affidavits against the Begums, ready 
5 drawn in their hands. Those affidavits he did not read. 
Some of them, indeed, he could not read; for they were 
in the dialects of Northern India, and no interpreter was 
employed.* He administered the oath to the deponents, 
with all possible expedition, and asked not a single ques- 

10 tion, not even whether they had perused the statements 
to which they swore. This work performed, he got again 
into his palanquin, and posted back to Calcutta, to be 
in time for the opening of term. The cause was one 
which, by his own confession, lay altogether out of his 

15 jurisdiction. Under the charter of justice, he had no 
more right to inquire into crimes committed by natives 
in Oude than the Lord President of the Court of Session 
of Scotland to hold an assize at Exeter. He had no right 
to try the Begums, nor did he pretend to try them. With 

20 what object, then, did he undertake so long a journey? 
Evidently in order that he might give, in an irregular 
manner, that sanction which in a regular manner he 
could not give, to the crimes of those who had recently 

* This passage has been slightly altered. As it originally stood, 
Sir Elijah Impey was described as ignorant of all the native languages 
in which the depositions were drawn. A writer who apparently has 
had access to some private source of information has contradicted 
this statement, and has asserted that Sir Elijah knew Persian and 
Bengalee. Some of the depositions were certainly in Persian. Those 
therefore Sir Elijah might have read if he had chosen to do so. But 
others were in the vernacular dialects of Upper India, with which it 
is not alleged that he had any acquaintance. Why the Bengalee is 
mentioned it is not easy to guess. Bengalee at Lucknow would have 
been as useless as Portuguese in Switzerland. 



WARREN HASTINGS 95 

hired him; and in order that a confused mass of testimony 
which he did not sift, which he did not even read, might 
acquire an authority not properly belonging to it, from 
the signature of the highest judicial functionary in India. 

The time was approaching, however, when he was to be 5 
stripped of that robe which has never, since the Revolu- 
tion, been disgraced so foully as by him. The state of 
India had for some time occupied much of the attention 
of the British Parliament. Towards the close of the 
American war, two committees of the Commons sat on 10 
Eastern affairs. In one Edmund Burke took the lead. 
The other was under the presidency of the able and ver- 
satile Henry Dundas, then Lord Advocate of Scotland. 
Great as are the changes which, during the last sixty 
years, have taken place in our Asiatic dominions, the 15 
reports which those committees laid on the table of the 
House will still be found most interesting and instructive. 

There was as yet no connection between the Company 
and either of the great parties in the state. The minis- 
ters had no motive to defend Indian abuses. On the 20 
contrary, it was for their interest to show, if possible, that 
the government and patronage of our Oriental empire 
might, with advantage, be transferred to themselves. 
The votes therefore, which, in consequence of the reports 
made by the two committees, were passed by the Com- 25 
mons, breathed the spirit of stern and indignant justice. 
The severest epithets were applied to several of the meas- 
ures of Hastings, especially to the Rohilla war; and it was 
resolved, on the motion of Mr. Dundas, that the Com- 
pany ought to recall a Governor- General who had brought 30 
such calamities on the Indian people, and such dishonour 
on the British name. " An act was passed for limiting the 
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The bargain which 



96 WARREN HASTINGS 

Hastings had made with the Chief Justice was condemned 
in the strongest terms; and an address was presented to 
the King, praying that Impey might be ordered home 
to answer for his misdeeds. 
5 Impey was recalled by a letter from the Secretary of 
State. But the proprietors of India Stock resolutely 
refused to dismiss Hastings from their service, and passed 
a resolution affirming, what was undeniably true, that 
they were intrusted by law with the right of naming and 

10 removing their Governor-General, and that they were 

not bound to obey the directions of a single branch of 

the legislature with respect to such nomination or removal. 

Thus supported by his employers, Hastings remained 

at the head of the government of Bengal till the spring 

15 of 1785. His administration, so eventful and stormy, 
closed in almost perfect quiet. In the Council there was 
no regular opposition to his measures. Peace was re- 
stored to India. The Mahratta war had ceased. Hyder 
was no more. A treaty had been concluded with his 

20 son, Tippoo; and the Carnatic had been evacuated by 
the armies of Mysore. Since the termination of the 
American war, England had no European enemy or 
rival in the Eastern seas. 

On a general review of the long administration of 

25 Hastings, it is impossible to deny that, against the great 
crimes by which it is blemished, we have to set off great 
public services. England had passed through a perilous 
crisis. She ' still, indeed, maintained her place in the 
foremost rank of European powers; and the manner in 

30 which she had defended herself against fearful odds had 
inspired surrounding nations with a high opinion both 
of her spirit and of her strength. Nevertheless, in every 
part of the world, except one, she had been a loser. Not 



WARREN HASTINGS 97 

only had she been compelled to acknowledge the inde- 
pendence of thirteen colonies peopled by her children, 
and to conciliate the Irish by giving up the right of legis- 
lating for them; but, in the Mediterranean, in the Gulf 
of Mexico, on the coast of Africa, on the continent of 5 
America, she had been compelled to cede the fruits of her 
victories in former wars. Spain regained Minorca and 
Florida; France regained Senegal, Goree, and several 
West Indian Islands. The only quarter of the world in 
which Britain had lost nothing was the quarter in which 10 
her interests had been committed to the care of Hastings. 
In spite of the utmost exertions both of European and 
Asiatic enemies, the power of our country in the East had 
been greatly augmented. Benares was subjected; the 
Nabob Vizier reduced to vassalage. That our influence 15 
had been thus extended, nay, that Fort WiUiam and 
Fort St. George had not been occupied by hostile armies, 
was owing, if we may trust the general voice of the 
EngHsh in India, to the skill and resolution of Hastings. 

His internal administration, with all its blemishes, gives 20 
him a title to be considered as one of the most remarkable 
men in our history. He dissolved the double government. 
He transferred the direction of affairs to Enghsh hands. 
Out of a frightful anarchy, he educed at least a rude and 
imperfect order. The whole organization by which jus- 25 
tice was dispensed, revenue collected, peace maintained 
throughout a territory not inferior in population to the 
dominions of Louis the Sixteenth or of the. Emperor 
Joseph, was formed and superintended by him. He 
boasted that every public ofhce, without exception, which 30 
existed when he left Bengal, was his creation. It is quite 
true that this system, after all the improvements suggested 
by the experience of sixty years, still needs improvement, 
8 



98 WARREN HASTINGS 

and that it was at first far more defective than it now is. 
But whoever seriously considers what it is to construct 
from the beginning the whole of a machine so vast and 
complex as a government will allow that what Hastings 
5 effected deserves high admiration. To compare the 
most celebrated European ministers to him seems to 
us as unjust as it would be to compare the best baker 
in London with Robinson Crusoe, who, before he could 
bake a single loaf, had to make his plough and his harrow, 

lo his fences and his scarecrows, his sickle and his flail, his 
mill and his oven. 

The just fame of Hastings rises still higher, when we 
reflect that he was not bred a statesman; that he was 
sent from school to a counting-house; and that he was 

15 employed during the prime of his manhood as a com- 
mercial agent, far from all intellectual society. 

Nor must we forget that all, or almost all, to whom, 
when placed at the head of affairs, he could apply for 
assistance, were persons who owed as little as himself, 

20 or less than himself, to education. A minister in Europe 
finds himself, on the first day on which he commences 
his functions, surrounded by experienced public servants, 
the depositaries of oflicial traditions. Hastings had no 
such help. His own reflection, his own energy, were to 

25 supply the place of all Downing Street and Somerset 
House. Having had no facilities for learning, he was 
forced to teach. He had first to form himself, and then 
to form his instruments; and this not in a single depart- 
ment, but in all the departments of the administration. 

30 It must be added that, while engaged in this miost 
arduous task, he was constantly trammelled by orders 
from home, and frequently borne down by a majority 
in council. The preservation of an Empire from a for- 



WARREN HASTINGS 99 

midable combination of foreign enemies, the construction 
of a government in all its parts, were accomplished by 
him, while every ship brought out bales of censure from his 
employers, and while the records of every consultation 
were filled with acrimonious minutes by his colleagues. 5 
We beHeve that there never was a public man whose 
temper was so severely tried; not Marlborough, when 
thwarted by the Dutch Deputies; not Wellington, when 
he had to deal at once with the Portuguese Regency, the 
Spanish Juntas, and Mr. Percival. But the temper of 10 
Hastings was equal to almost any trial. It was not 
sweet; but it was calm. Quick and vigorous as his intel- 
lect was, the patience with which he endured the most 
cruel vexations, till a remedy could be found, resembled 
the patience of stupidity. He seems to have been capable 15 
of resentment, bitter and long-enduring; yet his resent- 
ment so seldom hurried him into any blunder that it may 
be doubted whether what appeared to be revenge was any 
thing but policy. 

The effect of this singular equanimity was that he 20 
always had the full command of all the resources of one 
of the most fertile minds that ever existed. Accordingly 
no complication of perils and embarrassments could 
perplex him. For every difficulty he had a contrivance 
ready; and, whatever may be thought of the justice and 25 
humanity of some of his contrivances, it is certain that 
they seldom failed to serve the purpose for which they 
were designed. 

Together with this extraordinary talent for devising 
expedients, Hastings possessed, in a very high degree, 30 
another talent scarcely less necessary to a man in his 
situation; we mean the talent for conducting political 
controversy. It is as necessary to an English statesman 



lOO WARREN HASTINGS 

in the East that he should be able to write, as it is to a 
minister in this country that he should be able to speak. 
It is chiefly by the oratory of a public man here that the 
nation judges of his powers. It is from the letters and 
5 reports of a public man in India that the dispensers of 
patronage form their estimate of him. In each case, 
the talent which receives peculiar encouragement is 
developed, perhaps at the expense of the other powers. 
In this country, we sometimes hear men speak above 

10 their abilities. It is not very unusual to find gentlemen 

in the Indian service who write above their abilities. 

The English politician is a little too much of a debater; 

the Indian politician a little too much of an essayist. 

Of the numerous servants of the Company who have 

15 distinguished themselves as framers of minutes and 
despatches, Hastings stands at the head. He was indeed 
the person who gave to the official writing of the Indian 
governments the character which it stills retains. He 
was matched against no common antagonist. But even 

20 Francis was forced to acknowledge, with sullen and 
resentful candour, that there was no contending against 
the pen of Hastings. And, in truth, the Governor- 
General's power of making out a case, of perplexing 
what it was inconvenient that people should understand, 

25 and of setting in the clearest point of view whatever 
would bear the light, was incomparable. His style must 
be praised with some reservation. It was in general 
forcible, pure, and polished; but it was sometimes, though 
not often, turgid, and, on one or two occasions, even 

30 bombastic. Perhaps the fondness of Hastings for Per- 
sian literature may have tended to corrupt his taste. 

And, since we have referred to his literary tastes, it 
would be most unjust not to praise the judicious encour- 



WARREN HASTINGS loi 

agement which, as a ruler, he gave to Uberal studies and 
curious researches. His patronage was extended, with 
prudent generosity, to voyages, travels, experiments, 
pubUcations. He did Httle, it is true, towards introduc- 
ing into India the learning of the West. To make the 5 
young natives of Bengal familiar with Milton and Adam 
Smith, to substitute the geography, astronomy, and sur- 
gery of Europe for the dotages of the Brahminical super- 
stition, or for the imperfect science of ancient Greece 
transfused through Arabian expositions, this was a scheme 10 
reserved to crown the beneficent administration of a far 
more virtuous ruler. Still, it is impossible to refuse high 
commendation to a man who, taken from a ledger to 
govern an empire, overwhelmed by public business, sur- 
rounded by people as busy as himself, and separated by 15 
thousands of leagues from almost all literary society, gave, 
both by his example and by his munificence, a great 
impulse to learning. In Persian and Arabic literature he 
was deeply skilled. With the Sanscrit he was not him- 
self acquainted; but those who first brought that language 20 
to the knowledge of European students owed much to his 
encouragement. It was under his protection that the 
Asiatic Society commenced its honourable career. That 
distinguished body selected him to be its first president; 
but, with excellent taste and feeling, he declined the 25 
honour in favour of Sir William Jones. But the chief 
advantage which the students of Oriental letters derived 
from his patronage remains to be mentioned. The 
Pundits of Bengal had always looked with great jealousy 
on the attempts of foreigners to pry into those mysteries 30 
which were locked up in the sacred dialect. Their religion 
had been persecuted by the Mahommedans. What they 
knew of the spirit of the Portuguese government might 



I02 WARREN HASTINGS 

warrant them in apprehending persecution from Chris- 
tians. That apprehension, the wisdom and moderation 
of Hastings removed. He was the first foreign ruler 
who succeeded in gaining the confidence of the hereditary 
5 priests of India, and who induced them to lay open to 
English scholars the secrets of the old Brahminical the- 
ology and jurisprudence. 

It is indeed impossible to deny that, in the great art 
of inspiring large masses of human beings with confidence 

lo and attachment, no ruler ever surpassed Hastings. If 
he had made himself popular with the English by giving 
up the Bengalese to extortion and oppression, or if, on 
the other hand, he had conciliated the Bengalese and 
alienated the English, there would have been no cause 

1 5 for wonder. What is pecuHar to him is that, being the 
chief of a small band of strangers who exercised bound- 
less power over a great indigenous population, he made 
himself beloved both by the subject many and by the 
dominant few. The affection felt for him by the civil 

20 service was singularly ardent and constant. Through 
all his disasters and perils, his brethren stood by him 
with steadfast loyalty. The army, at the same time, 
loved him as armies have seldom loved any but the 
greatest chiefs who have led them to victory. Even in 

25 his disputes with distinguished military men, he could 
always count on the support of the military profession. 
While such was his empire over the hearts of his country- 
men, he enjoyed among the natives a popularity, such as 
other governors have perhaps better merited, but such 

30 as no other governor has been able to attain. He spoke 
their vernacular dialects with faciHty and precision. 
He was intimately acquainted with their feelings and 
usages. On one or two occasions, for great ends, he 



WARREN HASTINGS 103 

deliberately acted in defiance of their opinion; but on such 
occasions he gained more in their respect than he lost in 
their love. In general, he carefully avoided all that could 
shock their national or religious prejudices. His admin- 
istration was indeed in many respects faulty; but the 5 
Bengalee standard of good government was not high. 
Under the Nabobs, the hurricane of Mahratta cavalry 
had passed annually over the rich alluvial plain. But 
even the Mahratta shrank from a conflict with the mighty 
children of the sea; and the immense rice-harvests of the 10 
Lower Ganges were safely gathered in, under the protec- 
tion of the English sword. The first English conquerors 
had been more rapacious and merciless even than the 
Mahrattas; but that generation had passed away. De- 
fective as was the police, heavy as were the public burdens, 15 
it is probable that the oldest man in Bengal could not 
recollect a season of equal security and prosperity. For 
the first time within living memory, the province was 
placed under a government strong enough to prevent 
others from robbing, and not inclined to play the robber 20 
itself. These things inspired good-will. At the same 
time, the constant success of Hastings and the manner 
in which he extricated him^self from every difiiculty 
made him an object of superstitious admiration; and the 
more than regal splendour which he sometimes displayed 25 
dazzled a people who have much in common with children. 
Even now, after the lapse of more than fifty years, the 
natives of India still talk of him as the greatest of the 
English; and nurses sing children to sleep with a jingling 
ballad about the fleet horses and richly caparisoned ele- 30 
phants of Sahib Warren Hostein. 

The gravest offences of which Hastings was guilty did 
not affect his popularity with the people of Bengal; for 



104 WARREN HASTINGS 

those offences were committed against neighbouring 
states. Those offences, as our readers must have per- 
ceived, we are not disposed to vindicate; yet, in order 
that the censure may be justly apportioned to the trans- 
5 gression, it is fit that the motive of the criminal should 
be taken into consideration. The motive which prompted 
the worst acts of Hastings was misdirected and ill-regu- 
lated public spirit, i The rules of justice, the sentiments 
of humanity, the plighted faith of treaties, were in his 

lo view as nothing, when opposed to the immediate interest 
of the state, i This is no justification, according to the 
principles either of morality, or of what we believe to 
be identical with morality, namely, far-sighted policy^ 
Nevertheless the common sense of mankind, which ~Tn 

15 questions of this sort seldom goes far wrong, will always 
recognise a distinction between crimes which originate 
in an inordinate zeal for the commonwealth, and crimes 
which originate in selfish cupidity. To the benefit of 

• this distinction Hastings is fairly entitled. There is, we 

20 conceive, no reason to suspect that the Rohilla war, the 
revolution of Benares, or the spoliation of the Princesses 
of Oude, added a rupee to his fortune, i We will not 
afiirm that, in all pecuniary dealings, he showed that 
punctilious integrity, that dread of the faintest appear- 

25 ance of evil, which is now the glory of the Indian civil 
service./ But when the school in which he had been 
trained and the temptations to which he was exposed 
are considered, we are more inclined to praise him for 
his general uprightness with respect to money, than 

30 rigidly to blame him for a few transactions which would 
now be called indelicate and irregular, but which even 
now would hardly be designated as corrupt. A rapacious 
man he certainly was not. Had he been so, he would 



WARREN HASTINGS 105 

infallibly have returned to his country the richest sub- 
ject in Europe. We speak within compass, when we say 
that, without applying any extraordinary pressure, he 
might easily have obtained from the zemindars of the 
Company's provinces and from neighbouring princes, 5 
in the course of thirteen years,, more than three millions 
sterling, and might have outshone the splendour of Carlton 
House and of the Palais Royal. He brought home a 
fortune such as a Governor-General, fond of state, and 
careless of thrift, might easily, during so long a tenure 10 
of office, save out of his legal salary. Mrs. Hastings, we 
are afraid, was less scrupulous. It was generally believed 
that she accepted presents with great alacrity, and that 
she thus formed, without the connivance of her husband, 
a private hoard amounting to several lacs of rupees. 15 
We are the more inclined to give credit to this story, 
because Mr. Gleig, who cannot but have heard it, does 
not, as far as we have observed, notice or contradict it. 

The influence of Mrs. Hastings over her husband was 
indeed such that she might easily have obtained much 20 
larger sums than she was ever accused of receiving. At 
length her health began to give way; and the Governor- 
General, much against his will, was compelled to send her 
to England. He seems to have loved her with that love 
which is peculiar to men of strong minds, to men whose 25 
affection is not easily won or widely diffused. The talk 
of Calcutta ran for some time on the luxurious manner 
in which he fitted up the round-house of an Indiaman 
for her accommodation, on the profusion of sandal- wood 
and carved ivory which adorned her cabin, and on the 30 
thousands of rupees which had been expended in order to 
procure for her the society of an agreeable female com- 
panion during the voyage. We may remark here that the 



lo6 WARREN HASTINGS 

letters of Hastings to his wife are exceedingly charac- 
teristic. They are tender, and full of indications of 
esteem and confidence; but, at the same time, a little 
more ceremonious than is usual in so intimate a relation. 
5 The solemn courtesy with which he compliments "his 
elegant Marian" reminds us now and then of the dig- 
nified air with which Sir Charles Grandison bowed over 
Miss Byron's hand in the cedar parlour. 
After some months Hastings prepared to follow his 

10 wife to England. When it was announced that he was 
about to quit his office, the feeling of the society which 
he had so long governed manifested itself by many signs. 
Addresses poured in from Europeans and Asiatics, from 
civil functionaries, soldiers, and traders. On the day 

15 on which he delivered up the keys of office, a crowd of 
friends and admirers formed a lane to the quay where he 
embarked. Several barges escorted him far down the 
river; and some attached friends refused to quit him till 
the low coast of Bengal was fading from the view, and 

20 till the pilot was leaving the ship. 

Of his voyage little is known, except that he amused 
himself with books and with his pen; and that, among 
the compositions by which he beguiled the tediousness 
of that long leisure, was a pleasing imitation of Horace's 

25 Otium Divos rogat. This little poem was inscribed to 
Mr. Shore, afterwards Lord Teignmouth, a man of whose 
integrity, humanity, and honour, it is impossible to 
speak too highly; but who, like some other excellent 
members of the civil service, extended to the conduct 

30 of his friend Hastings an indulgence of which his own 
conduct never stood in need. 

The voyage was, for those times, very speedy. Hastings 
was little more than four months on the sea. In June, 



WARREN HASTINGS 107 

1785, he landed at Plymouth, posted to London, appeared 
at Court, paid his respects in Leadenhall Street, and then 
retired with his wife to Cheltenham. 

He was greatly pleased with his reception. The King 
treated him with marked distinction. The Queen, who 5 
had already incurred much censure on account of the 
favour which, in spite of the ordinary severity of her 
virtue, she had shown to the "elegant Marian," was not 
less gracious to Hastings. The Directors received him 
in a solemn sitting; and their chairman read to him a vote 10 
of thanks which they had passed without one dissentient 
voice. "I find myself," said Hastings, in a letter written 
about a quarter of a year after his arrival in England, "I 
find myself every where, and universally, treated with evi- 
dences, apparent even to my own observation, that I 15 
possess the good opinion of my country." 

The confident and exulting tone of his correspondence 
about this time is the more remarkable, because he had 
already received ample notice of the attack which was in 
preparation. Within a week after he landed at Plymouth, 20 
Burke gave notice in the House of Commons of a motion 
seriously affecting a gentleman lately returned from 
India. The session, however, was then so far advanced, 
that it was impossible to enter on so extensive and impor- 
tant a subject. 25 

Hastings, it is clear, was not sensible of the danger of 
his position. Indeed that sagacity, that judgment, that 
readiness in devising expedients, which had distinguished 
him in the East, seemed now to have forsaken him; not 
that his abilities were at all impaired; not that he was 30 
not still the same man who had triumphed over Francis 
and Nuncomar, who had made the Chief Justice and the 
Nabob Vizier his tools,Who had deposed Cheyte Sing, 



io8 WARREN HASTINGS 

and repelled Hyder Ali. But an oak, as Mr. Grattan 
finely said, should not be transplanted at fifty. A raan 
who, having left England when a boy, returns to it after 
thirty or forty years passed in India, will find, be his 
5 talents what they may, that he has much both to learn 
and to unlearn before he can take a place among English 
statesmen. The working of a representative system, 
the war of parties, the arts of debate, the influence of 
the press, are startling novelties to him. Surrounded 

lo on every side by new machines and new tactics, he is as 
much bewildered as Hannibal would have been at Water- 
loo, or Themistocles at Trafalgar. His very acuteness 
I deludes him. His very vigour causes him to stumble. 

. The more correct his maxims, when applied to the state 

15 of society to which he is accustomed, the more certain 
they are to lead him astray. This was strikingly the 
case with Hastings. In India he had a bad hand; but 
he was master of the game, and he won every stake. 
In England he held excellent cards, if he had known how 

20 to play them; and it was chiefly by his own errors he 
was brought to the verge of ruin. 

Of all his errors the most serious was perhaps the 
choice of a champion. Clive, in similar circumstances, 
had made a singularly happy selection. He put himself 

25 into the hands of Wedderburn, afterwards Lord Lough- 
borough, one of the few great advocates who have also 
been great in the House of Commons. To the defence 
of Clive, therefore, nothing was wanting, neither learning 
nor knowledge of the world, neither forensic acuteness 

30 nor that eloquence which charms political assemblies. 
Hastings intrusted his interests to a very different person, 
a major in the Bengal army, named Scott. This gentle- 
man had been sent over from India some time before 



WARREN HASTINGS 109 

as the agent of the Governor-General. It was rumoured 
that his services were rewarded with Oriental munificence; 
and we believe that he received much more than Hastings 
could conveniently spare. The major obtained a seat in 
Parliament, and was there regarded as the organ of his 5 
employer. It was evidently impossible that a gentleman 
so situated could speak with the authority which belongs 
to an independent position. Nor had the agent of 
Hastings the talents necessary for obtaining the ear of an 
assembly which, accustomed to Usten to great orators, 10 
had naturally become fastidious. He was always on his 
legs; he was very tedious; and he had only one topic, the 
merits and wrongs of Hastings. Everybody who knows 
the House of Commons will easily guess what followed. 
The Major was soon considered as the greatest bore of his 15 
time. His exertions were not confined to Parliament. 
There was hardly a day on which the newspapers did not 
contain some puff upon Hastings signed Asiaticus or 
Bengalensis, but known to be written by the indefatigable 
Scott; and hardly a month in which some bulky pamphlet 20 
on the same subject, and from the same pen, did not pass 
to the trunk-makers and the pastry-cooks. As to this 
gentleman's capacity for conducting a delicate question 
through Parliament, our readers will want no evidence 
beyond that which they will find in letters preserved in 25 
these volumes. We will give a single specimen of his 
temper and judgment. He designated the greatest man I 
then living as "that reptile Mr. Burke." 

In spite, however, of this unfortuante choice, the gen- 
eral aspect of affairs was favourable to Hastings. The 30 
King was on his side. The Company and its servants were 
zealous in his cause. Among public men he had many 
ardent friends. Such were Lord Mansfield, who had 



no WARREN HASTINGS 

outlived the vigour of his body, but not that of his mind; 
and Lord Lansdowne, who, though unconnected with 
any party, retained the importance which belongs to 
great talents and knowledge. The ministers were gen- 
5 erally believed to be favourable to the late Governor- 
General. They owed their power to the clamour which 
had been raised against Mr. Fox's East India Bill. The 
authors of that bill, when accused of invading vested 
rights, and of setting up powers unknown to the consti- 

lo tution, had defended themselves by pointing to the crimes 
of Hastings, and by arguing that abuses so extraordi- 
nary justified extraordinary measures. Those who, by 
opposing that bill, had raised themselves to the head of 
affairs, would naturally be inclined to extenuate the 

15 evils which had been made the plea for administering 
so violent a remedy; and such, in fact, was their general 
disposition. The Lord Chancellor Thurlow, in particu- 
lar, whose great place and force of intellect gave him 
a weight in the government inferior only to that of Mr. 

20 Pitt, espoused the cause of Hastings with indecorous 
violence. Mr. Pitt, though he had censured many parts 
of the Indian system, had studiously abstained from 
saying a word against the late chief of the Indian govern- 
ment. To Major Scott, indeed, the young minister had 

25 in private extolled Hastings as a great, a wonderful man, 
who had the highest claims on the government. There 
was only one objection to granting all that so eminent 
a servant of the public could ask. The resolution of 
censure still remained on the Journals of the House of 

30 Commons. That resolution was, indeed, unjust; but, 
till it was rescinded, could the minister advise the King 
to bestow any mark of approbation on the person cen- 
sured? If Major Scott is to be trusted, Mr. Pitt declared 



WARREN HASTINGS iii 

that this was the only reason which prevented the govern- 
ment from conferring a peerage on the late Governor- 
General. Mr. Dundas was the only important member 
of the administration who was deeply committed to a 
different view of the subject. He had moved the resolu- 5 
tions which created the difficulty; but even from him little 
was to be apprehended. Since he presided over the 
committee on Eastern affairs, great changes had taken 
place. He was surrounded by new allies; he had fixed 
his hopes on new objects; and whatever may have been 10 
his good quahties, — and he had many, — flattery itself 
never reckoned rigid consistency in the number. 

From the ministry, therefore, Hastings had every reason 
to expect support; and the ministry was very powerful. 
The Opposition was loud and vehement against him. But 15 
the Opposition, though formidable from the wealth and 
influence of some of its members, and from the admirable 
talents and eloquence of others, was outnumbered in 
parliament, and odious throughout the country. Nor, 
as far as we can judge, wa^ the Opposition generally 20 
desirous to engage in so serious an undertaking as the 
impeachment of an Indian Governor. Such an impeach- 
ment must last for years. It must impose on the chiefs 
of the party an immense load of labour. Yet it could 
scarcely, in any manner, affect the event of the great 25 
pohtical game. The followers of the coahtion were there- 
fore more inclined to revile Hastings than to prosecute 
him. They lost no opportunity of coupling his name with 
the names of the most hateful tyrants of whom history 
makes mention. The wits of Brooks's aimed their keenest 30 
sarcasms both at his pubUc and at his domestic life. 
Some fine diamonds which he had presented, as it was 
rumoured, to the royal family, and a certain richly carved 



112 WARREN HASTINGS 

ivory bed which the Queen had done him the honour 
to accept from him, were favourite subjects of ridicule. 
One Hvely poet proposed that the great acts of the fair 
Marian's present husband should be immortahzed by 
5 the pencil of his predecessor; and that Imhoff should be 
employed to embelUsh the House of Commons with 
paintings of the bleeding Rohillas, of Nuncomar swing- 
ing, *of Cheyte Sing letting himself down to the Ganges.^ 
Another, in an exquisitely humorous parody of Virgil's 

lo third eclogue, propounded the question what that mineral 
could be of which the rays had power to make the most 
austere of princesses the friend of a wanton. A third 
described, with gay malevolence, the gorgeous appear- 
ance of Mrs. Hastings at St. James's, the galaxy of jewels, 

15 torn from Indian Begums, which adorned her head-dress, 
her necklace gleaming with future votes, and the depend- 
ing questions that shone upon her ears. Satirical attacks 
of this description, and perhaps a motion for a vote of 
censure, would have satisfied the great body of the Oppo- 

20 sition. But there were two men whose indignation w^as 
not to be so appeased, Philip Francis and Edmund Burke. 
Francis had recently entered the House of Commons, 
and had already established a character there for indus- 
try and talent. He laboured indeed under one most 

25 unfortunate defect, want of fluency. But he occasion- 
ally expressed himself with a dignity and energy worthy 
of the greatest orators. Before he had been many days 
in parhament, he incurred the bitter dislike of Pitt, who 
constantly treated him with as much asperity as the 

30 laws of debate would allow. Neither lapse of years nor 
change of scene had mitigated the enmities which Francis 
had brought back from the East. After his usual fashion, 
he mistook his malevolence for virtue, nursed it, as 



WARREN HASTINGS 



"3 



preachers tell us that we ought to nurse our good dis- 
positions, and paraded it, on all occasions, with Phari- 
saical ostentation. 

The zeal of Burke was still fiercer; but it was far purer. 
Men unable to understand the elevation of his mind have 5 
tried to find out some discreditable motive for the vehe- 
mence and pertinacity which he showed on this occasion. 
But they have altogether failed. The idle story that he 
had some private slight to revenge has long been given 
up, even by the advocates of Hastings. Mr. Gleig sup- 10 
poses that Burke was actuated by party spirit, that he 
retained a bitter remembrance of the fall of the coalition, 
that he attributed that fall to the exertions of the East 
India interest, and that he considered Hastings as the 
head and the representative of that interest. This ex- 15 
planation seems to be sufficiently refuted by a reference 
to dates. The hostility of Burke to Hastings commenced 
long before the coalition; and lasted long after Burke 
had become a strenuous supporter of those by whom the 
coalition had been defeated. It began when Burke and 20 
Fox, closely alhed together, were attacking the influence 
of the crown, and calling for peace with the American 
republic. It. continued till Burke, alienated from Fox, 
and loaded with the favours of the crown, died, preaching 
a crusade against the French republic. It seems absurd 25 
to attribute to the events of 17 84 an enmity which began 
in 1 781, and which retained undiminished force long after 
persons far more deeply implicated than Hastings in the 
events of 1784 had been cordially forgiven. And why 
should we look for any other explanation of Burke's con- 30 
duct than that which we find on the surface? fThe plain 
truth is that Hastings had committed some great crimes, 
and that the thought of those crimes made the blood of 



114 WARREN HASTINGS 

Burke boil in his veins. For Burke was a man in whom 
compassion for suffering, and hatred of injustice and 
tyranny, were as strong as in Las Casas or Clarkson. 
And although in him as in Las Casas and in Clarkson, 
5 these noble feelings were alloyed with the infirmity 
which belongs to human nature, he is, like them, entitled 
to this great praise, that he devoted years of intense 
labour to the service of a people with whom he had 
neither blood nor language, neither religion nor manners 

10 in common, and from whom no requital, no thanks, no 
applause could be expected. 

His knowledge of India was such as few even of those 
Europeans who have passed many years in that country 
have attained, and such as certainly was never attained 

15 by any public man who had not quitted Europe. He 
had studied the history, the laws, and the usages of the 
East with an industry such as is seldom found united 
to so much genius and so much sensibiHty. Others have 
perhaps been equally laborious, and have collected an 

20 equal mass of materials. But the manner in which 
Burke brought his higher powers of intellect to work 
on statements of facts, and on tables of figures, was 
peculiar to himself. In every part of those huge bales 
of Indian information which repelled almost all other 

25 readers, his mind, at once philosophical and poetical, 
found something to instruct or to delight. His reason 
analysed and digested those vast and shapeless masses; 
his imagination animated and coloured them. Out 
of darkness, and dulness, and confusion, he formed a 

30 multitude of ingenious theories and vivid pictures. He 
had, in the highest degree, that noble faculty whereby 
man is able to live in the past and in the future, in the 
distant and in the unreal. India and its inhabitants 



WARREN HASTINGS 115 

were not to him, as to most Englishmen , mere names 
and abstractions, but a real country and a real people. 
The burning sun, the strange vegetation of the palm and 
the cocoa tree, the rice-field, the tank, the huge trees, 
older than the Mogul empire, under which the village 5 
crowds assemble, the thatched roof of the peasant's hut, 
the rich tracery of the mosque where the imaum prays 
with his face to Mecca, the drums, and banners, and 
gaudy idols, the devotees swinging in the air, the grace- 
ful maiden, with the pitcher on her head, descending the 10 
steps to the river-side, the black faces, the long beards, 
the yellow streaks of sect, the turbans and the flowing 
robes, the spears and the silver maces, the elephants with 
their canopies of state, the gorgeous palanquin of the 
prince, and the close litter of the noble lady, all those 15 
things were to him as the objects amidst which his own 
life had been passed, as the objects which lay on the road 
between Beaconsfield and St. James's Street. All India 
was present to the eye of his mind, from the halls where 
suitors laid gold and perfumes at the feet of sovereigns to 20 
the wild moor where the gipsy camp was pitched, from 
the bazars, humming like bee-hives with the crowd of 
buyers and sellers, to the jungle where the lonely courier 
shakes his bunch of iron rings to scare away the hyaenas. 
He had just as lively an idea of the insurrection at Benares 25 
as of Lord George Gordon's riots, and of the execution 
of Nuncomar as of the execution of Dr. Dodd. Oppres- 
sion in Bengal was to him the same thing as oppression 
in the streets of London. 

tele saw that Hastings had been guilty of some most 30 
unjustifiable acts. | All that followed was natural and 
necessary in a mind like Burke's. His imagination and 
his passions, once excited, hurried him beyond the bounds 



ii6 WARREN HASTINGS 

of justice and good sense. His reason, powerful as it was, 
became the slave of feelings which it should have con- 
trolled. His indignation, virtuous in its origin, acquired 
too much of the character of personal aversion. He 
5 could see no mitigating circumstance, no redeeming merit. 
His temper, which, though generous and affectionate, 
had always been irritable, had now been made almost 
savage by bodily infirmities and mental vexations. Con- 
scious of great powers and great virtues, he found him- 

10 self, in age and "poverty, a mark for the hatred of a 
perfidious court and a deluded people. In Parliament 
his eloquence was out of date. A young generation, 
w^hich knew him. not, had filled the House. Whenever 
he rose to speak, his voice was drowned by the unseemly 

15 interruptions of lads who were in their cradles when his 
orations on the Stamp Act called forth the applause of 
the great Earl of Chatham. These things had produced 
on his proud and sensitive spirit an effect at w^hich we 
cannot wonder. He could no longer discuss any ques- 

20 tion with calmness, or make allowance for honest dif- 
ferences of opinion. Those who think that he was more 
violent and acrimonious in debates about India than on 
other occasions are ill informed respecting the last years 
of his life. In the discussions on the Commercial Treaty 

25 with the Court of Versailles, on the Regency, on the 
French Revolution, he showed even more virulence than 
in conducting the impeachment. Indeed it may be 
remarked that the very persons who called him a mis- 
chievous maniac, for condemning in burning words the 

30 Rohilla war and the spoliation of the Begums, exalted 
him into a prophet as soon as he began to declaim, with 
greater vehemence, and not with greater reason, s against 
the taking of the B as tile and (the insults offered to Marie 



WARREN HASTINGS 117 

Antoinette.! To us he appears to have been neither a 
maniac in the former case, nor a prophet in the latter, 
but in both cases a great and good man, led into extrava- 
gance by a tempestuous sensibility which domineered over 
all his faculties. 5 

It may be doubted whether the personal antipathy 
of Francis, or the nobler indignation of Burke, would 
have led their party to adopt extreme measures against 
Hastings, if his own conduct had been judicious. He 
should have felt that, great as his public services had 10 
been, he was not faultless; and should have been con- 
tent to make his escape, without aspiring to the honours 
of a triumph. He and his agent took a different view. 
They were impatient of the rewards which, as they con- 
ceived, were deferred only till Burke's attack should be 15 
over. They accordingly resolved to force on a decisive 
action, with an enemy for whom, if they had been w^ise, 
they w^ould have made a bridge of gold. On the first day 
of the session of 1786, Major Scott reminded Burke of 
the notice given in the preceding year, and asked whether 20 
it was seriously intended to bring any charge against 
the late Governor-General. This challenge left no course 
open to the Opposition, except to come forward as 
accusers, or to acknowledge themselves calumniators. 
The administration of Hastings had not been so blame- 25 
less, nor was the great party of Fox and North so feeble, 
that it could be prudent to venture on so bold a defiance. 
The leaders of the Opposition instantly returned the 
only answer which they could with honour return; and 
the whole party was irrevocably pledged to a prosecution. 30 

Burke began his operations by applying for Papers. 
Some of the documents for which he asked were refused 
by the ministers, who, in the debate^ held language such 



Ii8 WARREN HASTINGS 

as strongly confirmed the prevailing opinion, that they 
intended to support Hastings. In April the charges 
were laid on the table. They had been drawn by Burke 
with great abihty, though in a form too much resembling 
5 that of a pamphlet. Hastings was furnished with a copy 
of the accusation; and it was intimated to him that he 
might, if he thought fit, be heard in his own defence at 
the bar of the Commons. 

Here again Hastings was pursued by the same fatality 

10 which had attended him ever since the day when he set 
foot on English ground. It seemed to be decreed that 
this man, so politic and so successful in the East, should 
commit nothing but blunders in Europe. Any judicious 
adviser would have told him that the best thing which 

15 he could do would be to make an eloquent, forcible, and 
aft'ecting oration at the bar of the House; but that, if he 
could not trust himself to speak, and found it necessarjr 
to read, he ought to be as concise as possible. Audiences 
accustomed to extemporaneous debating of the highest 

20 excellence are always impatient of long written com- 
positions. Hastings, however, sat down as he would 
have done at the Government-house in Bengal, and 
prepared a paper of immense length. That paper, if 
recorded on the consultations of an Indian administra- 

25 tion, would have been justly praised as a very able 
minute. But it was now out of place. It fell flat, as 
the best written defence must have fallen flat, on an 
assembly accustomed to the animated and strenuous 
conflicts of Pitt and Fox. The members, as soon as 

30 their curiosity about the face and demeanour of so emi- 
nent a stranger was satisfied, walked away to dinner, 
and left Hastings to tell his story till midnight to the 
clerks and the Sergeant-at-arms. 



WARREN HASTINGS 119 

All preliminary steps having been duly taken, Burke, 
in the beginning of June, brought forward the charge 
relating to the Rohilla war. He acted discreetly in pla- 
cing this accusation in the van; for Dundas had formerly 
moved, and the House had adopted, a resolution con- 5 
demning, in the most severe terms, the policy followed 
by Hastings with regard to Rohilcund. Dundas had little, 
or rather nothing, to say in defence of his own consist- 
ency; but he put a bold face on the matter, and opposed 
the motion. Among other things, he declared that, 10 
though he still thought the Rohilla war unjustifiable, he 
considered the services which Hastings had subsequently 
rendered to the state as sufficient to atone even for so 
great an offence. Pitt did not speak, but voted with 
Dundas; and Hastings was absolved by a hundred and 15 
nineteen votes against sixty-seven. 

Hastings was now confident of victory. It seemed, 
indeed, that he had reason to be so. The Rohilla war 
was, of all his measures, that which his accusers might 
with greatest advantage assail. It had been condemned 20 
by the Court of Directors. It had been condemned by 
the House of Commons. It had been condemned by Mr. 
Dundas, who had since become the chief minister of the 
Crown for Indian affairs. Yet Burke, having chosen 
this strong ground, had been completely defeated on it. 25 
That, having failed here, he should succeed on any point, 
was generally thought impossible. It was rumoured at 
the clubs and coffee-houses that one or perhaps two more 
charges would be brought forward, that if, on those 
charges, the sense of the House of Comrdons should be 30 
against impeachment, the Opposition would let the matter 
drop, that Hastings would be immediately raised to the 
peerage, decorated with the star of the Bath, sworn of the 



120 WARREN HASTINGS 

privy council, and invited to lend the assistance of his 
talents and experience to the India board. Lord Thurlow, 
indeed, some months before, had spoken with contempt 
of the scruples which prevented Pitt from calling Hastings 
5 to the House of Lords; and had even said, that if the 
Chancellor of the Exchequer was afraid of the Commons, 
there was nothing to prevent the Keeper of the Great 
Seal from taking the royal pleasure about a patent of 
peerage. The very title was chosen. Hastings was to 

lo be Lord Daylesford. For, through all changes of scene 
and changes of fortune, remained unchanged his attach- 
ment to the spot which had witnessed the greatness and 
the fall of his family, and which had borne so great a 
part in the first dreams of his young ambition. 

15 But in a very few days these fair prospects were over- 
cast. ^On the thirteenth of June, Mr. Fox brought 
forward, with great abihty and eloquence, the charge re- 
specting the treatment of Cheyte Sing/ Francis followed 
on the same side. The friends of Hastings were in high 

20 spirits when Pitt rose. With his usual abundance and 
felicity of language, the Minister gave his opinion on 
the case. He maintained that the Governor-General 
was justified in calling on the Rajah of Benares for pecu- 
niary assistance, and in imposing a fine when that assist- 

25 ance was contumaciously withheld. He also thought 
that the conduct of the Governor-General during the 
insurrection had been distinguished by ability and pres- 
ence of mind. He censured, with great bitterness, the 
conduct of Francis, both in India and in ParHament, 

30 as most dishonest and malignant. The necessary infer- 
ence from Pitt's arguments seemed to be that Hastings 
ought to be honourably acquitted; and both the friends 
and the opponents of the Minister expected from him 



WARREN HASTINGS l2i 

a declaration to that effect. To the astonishment of all 
parties, he concluded by saying that, though he thought 
it right in Hastings to fine Cheyte Sing for contumacy, 
yet the amount of the fine was too great for the occasion. 
On this ground, and on this ground alone, did Mr. Pitt, 5 
applauding every other part of the conduct of Hastings 
with regard to Benares, declare that he should vote in 
favour of Mr. Fox's motion. 

The House was thunderstruck; and it well might be so. 
For the wrong done to Cheyte Sing, even had it been as 10 
flagitious as Fox and Francis contended, was a trifle when 
compared with the horrors which had been inflicted on 
Rohilcund. But if Mr. Pitt's view of the case of Cheyte 
Sing were correct, there was no ground for an impeach- 
ment, or even for a vote of censure. If the offence of 15 
Hastings was really no more than this, that, having a 
right to impose a mulct, the amount of which mulct was 
not defined, but was left to be settled by his discretion, 
he had, not for his own advantage, but for that of the 
state, demanded too much, was this an offence which 20 
required a criminal proceeding of the highest solemnity, 
a criminal proceeding, to which, during sixty years, no 
public functionary had been subjected? We can see, we 
think, in what way a man of sense and integrity might 
have been induced to take any course respecting Hastings, 25 
except the course which Mr. Pitt took. Such a man 
might have thought a great example necessary, for the 
preventing of injustice, and for the vindicating of the 
national honour, and might, on that ground, have voted 
for impeachment both on the Rohilla charge, and on the 30 
Benares charge. Such a man might have thought that 
the offences of Hastings had been atoned for by great ser- 
vices, and might, on that ground, have voted against the 



122 WARREN HASTINGS 

impeachment, on both charges. With great diffidence, 
we give it as our opinion that the most correct course 
would, on the whole, have been to impeach on the Rohilla 
charge, and to acquit on the Benares charge. Had the 
5 Benares charge appeared to us in the same Hght in which 
it appeared to Mr. Pitt, we should, without hesitation, 
have voted for acquittal on that charge. The one course 
which it is inconceivable that any man of a tenth part 
of Mr. Pitt's abilities can have honestly taken was the 

lo course which he took. He acquitted Hastings on the 
Rohilla charge. He softened down the Benares charge 
till it became no charge at all; and then he pronounced 
that it contained matter for impeachment.. 

Nor must it be forgotten that the principal reason 

15 assigned by the ministry for not impeaching Hastings 
on account of the Rohilla war was this, that the delin- 
quencies of the early part of his administration had been 
atoned for by the excellence of the later part. Was it 
not most extraordinary that men who had held this 

20 language could afterwards vote that the later part of his 
administration furnished matter for no less than twenty 
articles of impeachment? They first represented the 
conduct of Hastings in 1780 and 1781 as so highly meri- 
torious that, like works of supererogation in the Catholic 

25 theology, it ought to be efficacious for the canceUing of 
former offences; and they then prosecuted him for his 
conduct in 1780 and 1781. 

The general astonishment was the greater, because, 
only twenty-four hours before, the members on whom 

30 the minister could depend had received the usual notes 
from the Treasury, begging them to be in their places 
and to vote against Mr. Fox's motion. It was asserted 
by Mr. Hastings that, early on the morning of the very 



WARREN HASTINGS 123 

day on which the debate took place, Dundas called on 
Pitt, woke him, and was closeted with him many hours. 
The result of this conference was a determination to give 
up the late Governor- General to the vengeance of the 
Opposition. It was impossible even for the most power- 5 
ful minister to carry all his followers with him in so 
strange a course. Several persons high in ofiQce, the 
Attorney-General, Mr Glenville, and Lord Mulgrave, 
divided against Mr. Pitt. But the devoted adherents 
who stood by the head of the government without ask- 10 
ing questions, were sufficiently numerous to turn the 
scale. A hundred and nineteen members voted for Mr. 
Fox's motion; seventy-nine against it. Dundas silently 
followed Pitt. 

That good and great man, the late William Wilberf orce, 1 5 
often related the events of this remarkable night. He 
described the amazement of the House, and the bitter 
reflections which were muttered against the Prime Minis- 
ter by some of the habitual supporters of government. 
Pitt himself appeared to feel that his conduct required 20 
some explanation. He left the treasury bench, sat for 
some time next to Mr. Wilberforce, and very earnestly 
declared that he had found it impossible, as a man of con- 
science, to stand any longer by Hastings. The business, 
he said, was too bad. ' Mr. Wilberforce, we are bound to 25 
add, fully believed that his friend was sincere, and that 
the suspicions to which this mysterious affair gave rise 
were altogether unfounded. 

Those suspicions, indeed, were such as it is painful to 
mention. The friends of Hastings, most of whom, it is 30 
to be observed, generally supported the administration, 
affirmed that the motive of Pitt and Dundas was jealousy. 
Hastings was personally a favourite with the king. He 



124 WARREN HASTINGS 

was the idol of the East India Company and of its ser- 
vants. If he were absolved by the Commons, seated 
among the Lords, admitted to the Board of Control, 
closely allied with the strong-minded and imperious 
5 Thurlow, was it not almost certain that he would soon 
draw to himself the entire management of Eastern affairs? 
Was it not possible that he might become a formidable 
rival in the cabinet? It had probably got abroad that 
very singular communications had taken place between 

lo Thurlow and Major Scott, and that, if the First Lord of 
the Treasury was afraid to recommend Hastings for a 
peerage, the Chancellor was ready to take the respon- 
sibility of that step on himself. Of all ministers, Pitt 
was the least likely to submit with patience to such an 

15 encroachment on his functions. If the Commons im- 
peached Hastings, all danger was at an end. The pro- 
ceeding, however it might terminate, would probably 
last some years. In the mean time, the accused person 
would be excluded from honours and public employ- 

20 ments, and could scarcely venture even to pay his duty 

at court. Such were the motives attributed by a great 

part of the public to the young minister, whose ruling 

passion was generally believed to be avarice of power. 

The prorogation soon interrupted the discussions 

25 respecting Hastings. In the following year, those dis- 
cussions were resumed. The charge touching the spolia- 
tion of the Begums was brought forward by Sheridan, 
in a speech which was so imperfectly reported that it 
may be said to be wholly lost, but which was, without 

30 doubt, the most elaborately briUiant of all the produc- 
tions of his ingenious mind. The impression which it 
produced was such as has never been equalled. He sat 
down, not merely amidst cheering, but amidst the loud 



WARREN HASTINGS 125 

clapping of hands, in which the Lords below the bar and 
the strangers in the gallery joined. The excitement of 
the House was such that no other speaker could obtain a 
hearing; and the debate was adjourned. The ferment 
spread fast through the town. Within four and twenty- 5 
hours, Sheridan was offered a thousand pounds for the 
copyright of the speech, if he would himself correct it 
for the press. The impression made by this remarkable 
display of eloquence on severe and experienced critics, 
whose discernment may be supposed to have been quick- la 
ened by emulation, was deep and permanent. Mr. 
Windham, twenty years ■ later, said that the speech 
deserved all its fame, and was, in spite of some faults of 
taste, such as were seldom wanting either in the Hterary 
or in the parHamentary performances of Sheridan, the 15 
finest that had been delivered within the memory of man. 
Mr. Fox, about the same time, being asked by the late 
Lord Holland what was the best speech ever made in the 
House of Commons, assigned the first place, without 
hesitation, to the great oration of Sheridan on the Oude 20 
charge. 

When the debate was resumed, the tide ran so strongly 
against the accused that his .friends were coughed and 
scraped down. Pitt declared himself for Sheridan's, 
motion; and the question was carried by a hundred and 25 
seventy-five votes against sixty-eight. 

The Opposition, flushed with victory and strongly sup- 
ported by the pubUc sympathy, proceeded to bring for- 
ward a succession of charges relating chiefly to pecuniary 
transactions. The friends of Hastings were discouraged, 30 
and, having now no hope of being able to avert an impeach- 
ment, were not very strenuous in their exertions. At 
length the House, having agreed to twenty articles of 



126 WARREN HASTINGS 

charge, directed Burke to go before the Lords, and to 
impeach the late Governor-General of High Crimes and 
Misdemeanours. Hastings was at the same time arrested 
by the Sergeant-at-arms, and carried to the bar of the 
5 Peers. 

The session was now within ten days of its close. It 
was, therefore, impossible that any progress could be 
made in the trial till the next year. Hastings was 
admitted to bail; and further proceedings were post- 

10 poned till the Houses should re-assemble. 

When Parliament met in the following winter, the 
Commons proceeded to elect a committee for managing 
the impeachment. Burke stood at the head; and with 
him were associated most of the leading members of the 

15 Opposition. But when the name of Francis was read 
a fierce contention arose. It was said that Francis and 
Hastings were notoriously on bad terms, that they had 
been at feud during many years, that on one occasion 
their mutual aversion had impelled them to seek each 

20 other's lives, and that it would be improper and indeli- 
cate to select a private enemy to be a public accuser. 
It was urged on the other side with great force, particu- 
larly by Mr. Windham, .that impartiality, though the 
first duty of a judge, had never been reckoned among 

25 the qualities of an advocate; that in the ordinary admin- 
istration of criminal justice among the English, the 
aggrieved party, the very last person who ought to be 
admitted into the jury-box, is the prosecutor; that what 
was wanted in a manager was, not that he should be 

30 free from bias, but that he should be able, well informed, 
energetic, and active. The ability and information of 
Francis were admitted; and the very animosity with 
which he was reproached, whether a virtue or a vice, 



WARREN HASTINGS 127 

was at least a pledge for his energy and activity. It 
seems difficult to refute these arguments. But the 
inveterate hatred borne by Francis to Hastings had 
excited general disgust. The House decided that Francis 
should not be a manager. Pitt voted with the majority, 5 
Dundas with the minority. 

In the mean time, the preparations for the trial had 
proceeded rapidly; and on the thirteenth of February, 
1788, the sittings of the Court commenced. There have 
been spectacles more dazzling to the eye, more gorgeous 10 
with jewellery and cloth of gold, more attractive to grown- 
up children, than that which was then exhibited at West- 
minster; but, perhaps, there never was a spectacle so well 
calculated to strike a highly cultivated, a reflecting, an 
imaginative mind. All the various kinds of interest which 1 5 
belong to the near and to the distant, to the present and 
to the past, were collected on one spot, and in one hour. 
All the talents and all the accomplishments which are 
developed by liberty and civilisation were now displayed, 
with every advantage that could be derived both from 20 
co-operation and from contrast. Every step in the 
proceedings carried the mind either backward, through 
many troubled centuries, to the days when the founda- 
tions of our constitution were laid; or far away, over 
boundless seas and deserts, to dusky nations living under 25 
strange stars, worshipping strange gods, and writing 
strange characters from right to left. The High Court 
of Parliament was to sit, according to forms handed down 
from the days of the Plantagenets, on an Englishman 
accused of exercising tyranny over the lord of the holy 30 
city of Benares, and over the ladies of the princely house 
of Oude. 

The place was worthy of such a trial. It was the great 



128 WARREN HASTINGS 

hall of William Rufus, the hall which had resounded with 
acclamations at the inauguration of thirty kings, the hall 
which had witnessed the just sentence of Bacon and the 
just absolution of Somers, the hall where the . eloquence 
5 of Strafford had for a moment awed and melted a vic- 
torious party inflamed with just resentment, the hall 
where Charles had confronted the High Court of Justice 
with the placid courage which has half redeemed his fame. 
Neither military nor civil pomp was wanting. The 

lo avenues were lined with grenadiers. The streets were 
kept clear by cavalry. The peers, robed in gold and 
ermine, were marshalled by the heralds under Garter 
King-at-arms. The judges in their vestments of state 
attended to give advice on points of law. Near a hun- 

15 dred and seventy lords, three fourths of the Upper House 
as the Upper House then was, walked in solemn order 
from their usual place of assembling to the tribunal. 
The junior baron present led the way, George Eliott, 
Lord Heathfield, recently ennobled for his memorable 

20 defence of Gibraltar against the fleets and armies of 
France and Spain. The long procession was closed by 
the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal of the realm, by the 
great dignitaries, and by the brothers and sons of the 
King. Last of all came the Prince of Wales, conspicuous 

25 by his fine person and noble bearing. The grey old walls 
were hung with scarlet. The long galleries were crowded 
by an audience such as has rarely excited the fears 
or the emulation of an orator. There were gathered 
together, from all parts of a great, free, enlightened, 

30 and prosperous empire, grace and female loveliness, wit 
and learning, the representatives of every science and 
of every art. There were seated around the Queen the 
fair-headed young daughters of the house of Brunswick. 



WARREN HASTINGS 129 

There the Ambassadors of great Kings and Common- 
wealths gazed with admiration on a spectacle which no 
other country in the world could present. There Siddons, 
in the prime of her majestic beauty, looked with emo- 
tion on a scene surpassing all the imitations of the stage. 5 
There the historian of the Roman Empire thought of the 
days when Cicero pleaded the cause of Sicily against 
Verres, and when, before a senate which still retained 
some show of freedom, Tacitus thundered against the 
oppressor of Africa. There were seen, side by side, the 10 
greatest painter and the greatest scholar of the age. The 
spectacle had allured Reynolds from that easel which has 
preserved to us the thoughtful foreheads of so many 
writers and statesmen, and the sweet smiles of so many 
noble matrons. It had induced Parr to suspend his 15 
labours in that dark and profound mind from which he 
had extracted a vast treasure of erudition, a treasure too 
often buried in the earth, too often paraded with inju- 
dicious and inelegant ostentation, but still precious, 
massive, and splendid. There appeared the voluptuous 20 
charms of her to whom the heir of the throne had in secret 
plighted his faith. There too was she, the beautiful 
mother of a beautiful race, the Saint Cecilia whose deli- 
cate features, lighted up by love and music, art has 
rescued from the common decay. There were the mem- 25 
bers of that brilliant society which quoted, criticized, and 
exchanged repartees, under the rich peacock-hangings 
of Mrs. Montague. And there the ladies whose lips, more 
persuasive than those of Fox himself, had carried the 
Westminster election against palace and treasury, shone 30 
round Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire. 

The Sergeants made proclamation. Hastings advanced 
to the bar, and bent his knee. The culprit was indeed 



I30 WARREISi: HASTINGS 

not unworthy of that great presence. He had ruled an 
extensive and populous country, and made laws arid 
treaties, had sent forth armies, had set up and pulled 
down princes. And in his high place he had so borne 
5 himself, that all had feared him, that most had loved him, 
and that hatred itself could deny him no title to glory, 
except virtue. He looked like a great man, and not like 
a bad man. A person small and emaciated, yet deriving 
dignity from a carriage which, while it indicated defer- 

10 ence to the court, indicated also habitual self-possession 
and self-respect, a high and intellectual forehead, a brow 
pensive, but not gloomy, a mouth of inflexible decision, 
a face pale and worn, but serene, on which was written, 
as legibly as under the picture in the council-chamber at 

15 Calcutta, Mens cequa in arduis; such was the aspect with 

which the great proconsul presented himself to his judges. 

His counsel accompanied him, men all of whom were 

afterwards raised by their talents and learning to the 

highest posts in their profession, the bold and strong- 

20 minded Law, afterwards Chief Justice of the King's 
Bench; the more humane and eloquent Dallas, afterwards 
Chief- Justice of the Common Pleas; and Plomer who, 
near twenty years later, successfully conducted in the 
same high court the defence of Lord Melville, and sub- 

25 sequently became Vice-chancellor and Master of the 
Rolls. 

But neither the culprit nor his advocates attracted 
so much notice as the accusers. In the midst of the 
blaze of red drapery, a space had been fitted up with 

30 green benches, and tables for the Commons. The mana- 
gers, with Burke at their head, appeared in full dress. 
The collectors of gossip did not fail to remark that even 
Fox, generally so regardless of his appearance, had paid 



WARREN HASTINGS 131 

to the illustrious tribunal the compliment of wearing a 
bag and sword. Pitt had refused to be one of the con- 
ductors of the impeachment; and his commanding, 
copious, and sonorous eloquence was wanting to that 
great muster of various talents. Age and blindness had 5 
unfitted Lord North for the duties of a pubhc prosecutor; 
and his friends were left without the help of his excellent 
sense, his tact, and his urbanity. But, in spite of the 
absence of these two distinguished members of the Lower 
House, the box in which the managers stood contained 10 
an array of speakers such as perhaps had not appeared 
together since the great age of Athenian eloquence. 
There were Fox and Sheridan, the EngUsh Demosthenes 
and the Enghsh Hyperides. There was Burke, ignorant, 
indeed, or negligent of the art of adapting his reasonings 15 
and his style to the capacity and taste of his hearers, but 
in ampUtude of comprehension and richness of imagina- 
tion superior to every orator, ancient or modern. There, 
with eyes reverentially fixed on Burke, appeared the finest 
gentleman of the age, his form developed by every manly 20 
exercise, his face beaming with intelligence and spirit, 
the ingenious, the chivalrous, the high-souled Windham. 
Nor, though surrounded by such men, did the youngest 
manager pass unnoticed. At an age when most of those 
who distinguished themselves in life are still contending 25 
for prizes and fellowships at college, he had won for him- 
self a conspicuous place in parhament. No advantage of 
fortune or connection was wanting that could set off to the 
height his splendid talents and his unblemished honour. 
At twenty-three he had been thought worthy to be ranked 30 
with the veteran statesmen who appeared as the delegates 
of the British Commons, at the bar of the British nobihty. 
All who stood at that bar, save him alone, are gone, cul- 



132 



WARREN HASTINGS 



prit, advocates, accusers. To the generation which is 
now in the vigour of Hfe, he is the sole representative of 
a great age which had passed away. But those who, 
within the last ten years, have listened with delight, till 
5 the morning sun shone on the tapestries of the House 
of Lords, to the lofty and animated eloquence of 
Charles Earl Grey, are able to form some estimate of 
the powers of a race of men among whom he was not 
the foremost. 

lo The charges and the answers of Hastings were first 
read. The ceremony occupied two whole days, and was 
rendered less tedious than it would otherwise have been 
by the silver voice and just emphasis of Cowper, the 
clerk of the court, a near relation of the amiable poet. 

15 On the third day Burke rose. Four sittings were occu- 
pied by his opening speech, which was intended to be a 
general introduction to all the charges. With an ex- 
uberance of thought and a splendour of diction which 
more than satisfied the highly-raised expectation of the 

20 audience, he described the character and institutions 
of the natives of India, recounted the circumstances in 
which the Asiatic empire of Britain had originated, and 
set forth the constitution of the Company and of the 
English Presidencies. Having thus attempted to com- 

25 municate to his hearers an idea of Eastern society, as 

vivid as that which existed in his own mind, he proceeded 

to arraign the administration of Hastings as system- 

- atically conducted in defiance of morality and public 

law. The energy and pathos of the great orator extorted 

30 expressions of unwonted admiration from the stern and 
hostile Chancellor, and, for a moment, seemed to pierce 
even the resolute heart of the defendant. The ladies 
in the galleries, unaccustomed to such displays of elo- 



WARREN HASTINGS 133 

quence, excited by the solemnity of the occasion, and 
perhaps not unwilUng to display their taste and sensi- 
biHty, were in a state of uncontrollable emotion. Hand- 
kerchiefs were pulled out; smelling-bottles were handed 
round; hysterical sobs and screams were heard; and Mrs. 5 
Sheridan was carried out in a fit. At length the orator 
concluded. Raising his voice till the old arches of Irish 
oak resounded, '' Therefore," said he, ''hath it with all 
confidence been ordered by the Commons of Great Britain, 
that I impeach Warren Hastings of high crimes and mis- 10 
demeanours. I impeach him in the name of the Com- 
mons' House of Parliament, whose trust he has betrayed. 
I impeach him in the name of the English nation, whose 
ancient honour he has sulhed. I impeach him in the 
name of the people of India, whose rights he has trodden 15 
under foot, and whose country he has turned into a desert. 
Lastly, in the name of human nature itself, in the name 
of both sexes, in the name of every age, in the name of 
every rank, I impeach the common enemy and oppressor 
of all!" 20 

When the deep murmur of various emotions had sub- 
sided, Mr. Fox rose to address the Lords respecting the 
course of proceeding to be followed. The wish of the 
accusers was that the Court would bring to a close 
the investigation of the first charge before the second 25 
was opened. The wish of Hastings and of his counsel was 
that the managers should open all the charges, and pro- 
duce all the evidence for the prosecution, before the 
defence began. The Lords retired to their own House 
to consider the question. The Chancellor took the side 30 
of Hastings. Lord Loughborough, who was now in oppo- 
sition, supported the demand of the managers. The divi- 
sion showed which way the inclination of the tribunal 



134 WARREN HASTINGS 

leaned. A majority of near three to one decided in 
favour of the course for which Hastings contended. 

When the Court sat again, Mr. Fox, assisted by Mr. 
Grey, opened the charge respecting Cheyte Sing, and 
5 several days were spent in reading papers and hearing 
witnesses. The next article was that relating to the 
Princesses of Oude. The conduct of this part of the case 
was intrusted to Sheridan. The curiosity of the public 
to hear him was unbounded. His sparkhng and highly 

lo finished declamation lasted two days; but the Hall 
was crowded to suffocation during the whole time. It 
was said that fifty guineas had been paid for a single 
ticket. Sheridan, when he concluded, contrived, with a 
knowledge of stage-effect which his father might have 

15 envied, to sink back, as if exhausted, into the arms of 
Burke, who hugged him with the energy of generous 
admiration. 

June was now far advanced. The session could not 
last much longer; and the progress which had been made. 

20 in the impeachment was not very satisfactory. There 

were twenty charges. On two only of these had even 

the case for the prosecution been heard; and it was now 

a year since Hastings had been admitted to bail. 

The interest taken by the public in the trial was great 

25 when the Court began to sit, and rose to the height when 
Sheridan spoke on the charge relating to the Begums. 
From that time the excitement went down fast. The 
spectacle had lost the attraction of novelty. The great 
displays of rhetoric were over. What was behind was not 

30 of a nature to entice men of letters from their books in 
the morning, or to tempt ladies who had left the masquer- 
ade at two to be out of bed before eight. There remained 
examinations and cross-examinations. There remained 



WARREN HASTINGS 135 

statements of accounts. There remained the reading 
of papers, filled with words unintelligible to English ears, 
with lacs and crores, zemindars and aumils, sunnuds 
and perwannahs, jaghires and nuzzurs. There remained 
bickerings, not always carried on with the best taste or 5 
with the best temper, between the managers of the im- 
peachment and the counsel for the defence, particularly 
between Mr. Burke and Mr. Law. There remained the 
endless marches and counter-marches of the Peers between 
their House and the Hall: for as often as a point of law 10 
was to be discussed, their Lordships retired to discuss it 
apart; and the consequence was, as a peer wittily said, 
that the judges walked and the trial stood still. 

It is to be added that, in the spring of 1788 when the 
trial commenced, no important question, either of domes- 15 
tic or foreign policy, excited the public mind. The pro- 
ceeding in Westminster Hall, therefore, naturally attracted 
most of the attention of Parliament and of the public. 
It was the one great event of that season. But in the fol- 
lowing year the King's illness, the debates on the Regency, 20 
the expectation of a change of Ministry, completely 
diverted public attention from Indian affairs; and within 
a fortnight after George the Third had returned thanks 
in St. Paul's for his recovery, the States-General of France 
met at Versailles. In the midst of the agitation pro- 25 
duced by these events, the impeachment was for a time 
almost forgotten. 

The trial in the Hall went on languidly. In the session 
of 1788, when the proceedings had the interest of novelty, 
and when the Peers had Httle other business before them, 30 
only thirty-five days were given to the impeachment. 
In 1789, the Regency Bill occupied the Upper House till 
the session was far advanced. When the Kins: recovered 



136 WARREN HASTINGS 

the circuits were beginning. The judges left town; the 
Lords waited for the return of the oracles of jurispru- 
dence; and the consequence was that during the whole 
year only seventeen days were given to the case of 
5 Hastings. It was clear that the matter would be pro- 
tracted to a length unprecedented in the annals of criminal 
law. 

In truth, it is impossible to deny that impeachment, 
though it is a fine ceremony, and though it may have 

10 been useful in the seventeenth century, is not a proceed- 
ing from which much good can now be expected. What- 
ever confidence m.ay be placed in the decisions of the 
Peers on an appeal arising out of ordinary litigation, 
it is certain that no man has the least confidence in their 

15 impartiahty, when a great public functionary, charged 
with a great state crime, is brought to their bar. They 
are all politicians. There is hardly one among them 
whose vote on an impeachment may not be confidently 
predicted before a witness has been examined; and, evea 

20 if it were possible to rely on their justice, they would 
still be quite unfit to try such a cause as that of Hastings.. 
They sit only during half the year. They have to trans- 
act much legislative and much judicial business. The 
law-lords, whose advice is required to guide the unlearned 

25 majority, are employed daily in administering justice 
elsewhere. It is impossible, therefore, that during a. 
busy session, the Upper House should give more than a. 
few days to an impeachment. To expect that their 
Lordships would give up partridge-shooting, in order 

30 to bring the greatest delinquent to speedy justice, or 
to relieve accused innocence by speedy acquittal, would 
be unreasonable indeed. A well-constituted tribunal, 
sitting regularly six days in the week, and nine hours 



WARREN HASTINGS 137 

in the day, would have brought the trial of Hastings to 
a close in less than three months. The Lords had not 
finished their work in seven years. 

The result ceased to be matter of doubt, from the time 
when the Lords resolved that they would be guided by 5 
the rules of evidence which are received in the inferior 
courts of the realm.! Those rules, it is well known, 
exclude much information which would be quite sufficient 
to determine the conduct of any reasonable man, in the 
most important transactions of private life. Those rules, 10 
at every assizes, save scores of culprits whom judges, 
jury, and spectators, firmly believe to be guilty. But 
when those rules were rigidly applied to offences com- 
mitted many years before, at the distance of many thou- 
sand miles, conviction was, of course, out of the question. 15 
We do not blame the accused and his counsel for availing 
themselves of every legal advantage in order to obtain 
an acquittal. But it is clear that an acquittal so obtained 
cannot be pleaded in bar of the judgment of history. 

Several attempts were made by the friends of Hastings 20 
to put a stop to the trial. In 1789 they proposed a vote 
of censure upon Burke, for some violent language which 
he had used respecting the death of Nuncomar and the 
connection between Hastings and Impey. Burke was 
then unpopular in the last degree both with the House 25 
and with the country. The asperity and indecency of 
some expressions which he had used during the debates 
on the Regency had annoyed even his warmest friends. 
The vote of censure was carried; and those who had 
moved it hoped that the managers would resign in disgust. 30 
Burke was deeply hurt. But his zeal for what he con- 
sidered as the cause of justice and mercy triumphed over 
his personal feelings. He received the censure of the 



138 WARREN HASTINGS 

House with dignity and meekness, and declared that no 
personal mortification or humiUation should induce him 
to flinch from the sacred duty which he had undertaken. 
In the following year the Parliament was dissolved, 
5 and the friends of Hastings entertained a hope that the 
new House of Commons might not be disposed to go on 
with the impeachment. They began by maintaining 
that the whole proceeding was terminated by the dis- 
solution. Defeated on this point, they made a direct 

10 motion that the impeachment should be dropped; but 
they were defeated by the combined forces of the Govern- 
ment and the Opposition. It was, however, resolved 
that, for the sake of expedition, many of the articles 
should be withdrawn. In truth, had not some such 

15 measure been adopted, the trial would have lasted till 
the defendant was in his grave. 

At length, in the spring of 1795, the decision was pro- 
nounced, near eight years after Hastings had been brought 
by the Sergeant-at-arms of the Commons to the bar 

20 of the Lords. On the last day of this great procedure 
the pubHc curiosity, long suspended, seemed to be revived. 
Anxiety about the judgment there could be none; for 
it had been fully ascertained that there was a great 
majority for the defendant. Nevertheless many wished 

25 to see the pageant, and the Hall was as much crowded 
as on the first day. But those who, having been present 
on the first day, now bore a part in the proceedings of 
the last, were few; and most of those few were altered 
men. 

30 As Hastings himself said, the arraignment had taken 
place before one generation, and the judgment was pro- 
nounced by another. The spectator could not look at 
the woolsack, or at the red benches of the Peers, or at 



WARREN HASTINGS 139 

the green benches of the Commons, without seeing 
something that reminded him of the instabihty of all 
human things, of the instability of power and fame and 
life, of the more lamentable instability of friendship. 
The great seal was borne before Lord Loughborough who, 5 
when the trial commenced, was a fierce opponent of Mr. 
Pitt's government, and who was now a member of that 
government, while Thurlow, who presided in the court 
when it first sat, estranged from all his old allies, sat scowl- 
ing among the junior barons. Of about a hundred and 10 
sixty nobles who walked in the procession on the first day, 
sixty had been laid in their family vaults. Still more 
affecting must have been the sight of the manager's box. 
What had become of that fair fellowship, so closely bound 
together by public and private ties, so resplendent with 15 
every talent and accomplishment? It had been scattered 
by calamities more bitter than the bitterness of death. 
The great chiefs were still living, and still in the full vigour 
of their genius. But their friendship was at an end. It 
had been violently and publicly dissolved, with tears and 20 
stormy reproaches. If those men, once so dear to each 
other, were now compelled to meet for the purpose of 
managing the impeachment, they met as strangers whom 
public business had brought together, and behaved to each 
other with cold and distant civility. Burke had in his 25 
vortex whirled away Windham. Fox had been followed 
by Sheridan and Grey. 

Only twenty-nine Peers voted. Of these only six found 
Hastings guilty on the charge relating to Cheyte Sing 
and to the Begums. On other charges, the majority in 30 
his favour was still greater. On some, he was unani- 
mously absolved. He was then called to the bar, was in- 
formed from the woolsack that the Lords had acquitted 



140 WARREN HASTINGS 

him, and was solemnly discharged. He bowed respect- 
fully and retired. 

We have said that the decision had been fully expected. 
It was also generally approved. At the commence- 
5 ment of the trial there had been a strong and indeed 
unreasonable feeling against Hastings. At the close of 
the trial there was a feeling equally strong and equally 
unreasonable in his favour. One cause of the change 
was, no doubt, what is commonly called the fickleness 

10 of the multitude, but what seems to us to be merely the 
general law of human nature. Both in individuals and 
in masses violent excitement is always followed by re- 
mission, and often by reaction. We are all inclined to 
depreciate whatever we have overpraised, and, on the 

15 other hand, to show undue indulgence where we have 
shown undue rigour. It was thus in the case of Hastings. 
The length of his trial, moreover, made him an object 
of compassion. It was thought, and not without reason, 
that, even if he was guilty, he was still an ill-used man, 

20 and that an impeachment of eight years was more than 
a sufficient punishment. It was also felt that, though, 
in the ordinary course of criminal law, a defendant is 
not allowed to set off his good actions against his crimes, 
a great political cause should be tried on different prin- 

25 ciples, and that a man who had governed an empire 
during thirteen years might have done some very repre- 
hensible things, and yet might be on the whole deserving 
of rewards and honours rather than of fine and imprison- 
ment. The press, an instrument neglected by the prose- 

30 cutors, was used by Hastings and his friends with great 
effect. Every ship, too, that arrived from Madras or 
Bengal, brought a cuddy full of his admirers. Every 
gentleman from India spoke of the late Governor-General 



WARREN HASTINGS 141 

as having deserved better, and having been treated 
worse, than any man living. The effect of this testimony, 
unanimously given by all persons who knew the East, 
was naturally very great. Retired members of the 
Indian services, civil and military, were settled in all 5 
corners of the kingdom. Each of them was, of course, in 
his own little circle, regarded as an oracle on an Indian 
question; and they were, with scarcely one exception, 
the zealous advocates of Hastings. It is to be added, 
that the numerous addresses to the late Governor- 10 
General, which his friends in Bengal obtained from the 
natives and transmitted to England, made a considerable 
impression. To these addresses we attach httle or no 
importance. That Hastings was beloved by the people 
whom he governed is true; but the eulogies of pundits, 15 
zemindars, Mahommedan doctors, do not prove it to be 
true. For an English collector or judge would have found 
it easy to induce any native who could write to sign a 
panegyric on the most odious ruler that ever was in India. 
It was said that at Benares, the very place at which the 20 
acts set forth in the first article of impeachment had been 
committed, the natives had erected a temple to Hastings; 
and this story excited a strong sensation in England. 
Burke's observations on the apotheosis were admirable. 
He saw no reason for astonishment, he said, in the inci- 25 
dent which had been represented as so striking. He knew 
something of the mythology of the Brahmins. He knew 
that as they worshipped some gods from love, so they 
worshipped others from fear. He knew that they erected 
shrines, not only to the benignant deities of light and 30 
plenty, but also to the fiends who preside over small-pox 
and murder. Nor did he at all dispute the claim of Mr. 
Hastings to be admitted into such, a Pantheon. This 



142 WARREN HASTINGS 

reply has always struck us as one of the finest that ever 
was made in Parliament. It is a grave and forcible argu- 
ment, decorated by the most brilUant wit and fancy. 
Hastings was, however, safe. But in every thing 
5 except character, he would have been far better off if, 
when first impeached, he had at once pleaded guilty, 
and paid a fine of fifty thousand pounds. He was a 
ruined man. The legal expenses of his defence had been 
enormous. The expenses which did not appear in his 

lo attorney's bill were perhaps larger still. Great sums 
had been paid to Major Scott. Great sums had been 
laid out in bribing newspapers, rewarding pamphleteers, 
and circulating tracts. Burke, so early as 1790, declared 
in the House of Commons that twenty thousand pounds 

15 had been employed in corrupting the press. It is cer- 
tain that no controversial weapon, from the gravest 
reasoning to the coarsest ribaldry, was left unemployed. 
Logan defended the accused governor with great ability 
in prose. For the lovers of verse, the speeches of the 

20 managers were burlesqued in Simpkin's letters. It is, 
we are afraid, indisputable that Hastings stooped so low 
as to court the aid of that malignant and filthy baboon 
John Williams, who called himself Anthony Pasquin. 
It was necessary to subsidise such allies largely. The 

25 private hoards of Mrs. Hastings had disappeared. It 
is said that the banker to whom they had been intrusted 
had failed. Still if Hastings had practised strict econ- 
omy, he would, after all his losses, have had a moderate 
competence; but in the management of his private affairs 

30 he was imprudent. The dearest wish of his heart had 
always been to regain Daylesford. At length, in the 
very year in which his trial commenced, the wish was 
accomplished; and the domain, alienated more than 



WARREN HASTINGS 143 

seventy years before, returned to the descendant of its 
old lords. But the manor house was a ruin; and the 
grounds round it had, during many years, been utterly 
neglected. Hastings proceeded to build, to plant, to 
form a sheet of water, to excavate a grotto; and, before 5 
he was dismissed from the bar of the House of Lords, he 
had expended more than forty thousand pounds in adorn- 
ing his seat. 

The general feeling both of the Directors and of the pro- 
prietors of the East India Company was that he had great 10 
claims on them, that his services to them had been emi- 
nent, and that his misfortunes had been the effect of his 
zeal for their interest. His friends in Leadenhall Street 
proposed to reimburse him for the costs of his trial, and 
to settle on him an annuity of five thousand pounds a 15 
year. But the consent of the Board of Control was neces- 
sary; and at the head of the Board of Control was Mr. 
Dundas, who had himself been a party to the impeachment, 
who had, on that account, been reviled with great bitter- 
ness by the adherents of Hastings, and who, therefore, 20 
was not in a very complying mood. He refused to con- 
sent to what the Directors suggested. The Directors 
remonstrated. A long controversy followed. Hastings, 
in the mean time, was reduced to such distress, that he 
could hardly pay his weekly bills. At length a com- 25 
promise was made. An annuity of four thousand a year 
was settled on Hastings; and in order to enable him to 
meet pressing demands, he was to receive ten years' 
annuity in advance. The Company was also permitted 
to lend him fifty thousand pounds, to be repaid by instal- 30 
ments without interest. This relief, though given in the 
most absurd manner, was sufficient to enable the retired 
governor to live in comfort, and even in luxury, if he had 



144 WARREN HASTINGS 

been a skilful manager. But he was careless and profuse, 
and was more than once under the necessity of applying 
to the Company for assistance, which was liberally given. 
He had security and afifluence, but not the power and 
5 dignity which, when he landed from India, he had reason 
to expect. He had then looked forward to a coronet, 
a red riband, a seat at the Council Board, an office at 
Whitehall. He was then only fifty-two, and might hope 
for many years of bodily and mental vigour. The case 

lo was widely different when he left the bar of the Lords. 
He was now too old a man to turn his mind to a new class 
of studies and duties. He had no chance of receiving 
any mark of royal favour while Mr. Pitt remained in 
power; and, when Mr. Pitt retired, Hastings was approach- 

15 ing his seventieth year. 

Once, and only once, after his acquittal, he interfered 
in politics; and that interference was not much to his 
honour. In 1804 he exerted himself strenuously to pre- 
vent Mr. Addington, against whom Fox and Pitt had 

20 combined, from resigning the Treasury. It is difficult 
to believe that a man so able and energetic as Hastings 
can have thought that, when Bonaparte was at Bou- 
logne with a great army, the defence of our island could 
safely be intrusted to a ministry which did not contain 

25 a single person whom flattery could describe as a great 
statesman. It is also certain that, on the important 
question which had raised Mr. Addington to power, and 
on which he differed from both Fox and Pitt, Hastings, 
as might have been expected, agreed with Fox and Pitt, 

30 and was decidedly opposed to Addington. Religious 
intolerance has never been the vice of the Indian service, 
and certainly was not the vice of Hastings. But Mr. 
Addington had treated him with marked favour. Fox 



WARREN HASTINGS 145 

had been a principal manager of the impeachment. To 
Pitt it was owing that there had been an impeachment; 
and Hastings, we fear, was on this occasion guided by 
personal considerations, rather than by a regard to the 
public interest. 5 

The last twenty-four years of his life were chiefly 
passed at Daylesford. He amused himself with embel- 
lishing his grounds, riding fine Arab horses, fattening 
prize-cattle, and trying to rear Indian animals and vege- 
tables in England. He sent for seeds of a very fine 10 
custard-apple, from the garden of what had once been 
his own villa, among the green hedgerows of Allipore. 
He tried also to naturalise in Worcestershire the delicious 
leechee, almost the only fruit of Bengal which deserves 
to be regretted even amidst the plenty of Covent Garden. 15 
The Mogul emperors, in the time of their greatness, had 
in vain attempted to introduce into Hindostan the goat 
of the table-land of Thibet, whose down supplies the 
looms of Cashmere with the materials of the finest shawls. 
Hastings tried, with no better fortune, to rear a breed 20 
at Daylesford; nor does he seem to have succeeded better 
with the cattle of Bootan, whose tails are in high esteem 
as the best fans for brushing away the mosquitoes. 

Literature divided his attention with his conservatories 
and his menagerie. He had always loved books, and they 25 
were now necessary to him. Though not a poet, in any 
high sense of the word, he wrote neat and poHshed lines 
with great facility, and was fond of exercising this talent. 
Indeed, if we must speak out, he seems to have been more 
of a Trissotin than was to be expected from the powers 30 
of his mind, and from the great part which he had played 
in Hfe. We are assured in these Memoirs that the first 
thing which he did in the morning was to compose a copy 



146 WARREN HASTINGS 

of verses. When the family and guests assembled, the 
poem made its appearance as regularly as the eggs and 
rolls; and Mr. Gleig requires us to believe that, if from 
any accident Hastings came to the breakfast-table with- 
5 out one of his charming performances in his hand, the 
omission was felt by all as a grievous disappointment. 
Tastes differ widely. For ourselves we must say that, 
however good the breakfasts at Daylesford may have 
been, — and we are assured that the tea was of the most 

10 aromatic flavour, and that neither tongue nor venison- 
pasty was wanting, — we should have thought the 
reckoning high if we had been forced to earn our repast 
by listening every day to a new madrigal or sonnet com- 
posed by our host. We are glad, however, that Mr. 

1 5 Gleig has preserved this little feature of character, though 
we think it by no means a beauty. It is good to be often 
reminded of the inconsistency of human nature, and to 
learn to look without wonder or disgust on the weaknesses 
which are found in the strongest minds. Dionysius in 

20 old times, Frederic in the last century, with capacity 
and vigour equal to the conduct of the greatest affairs, 
united all the little vanities and affectations of pro- 
vincial blue-stockings. These great examples may con- 
sole the admirers of Hastings for the affliction of seeing 

25 him reduced to the level of the Hayleys and Sewards. 

When Hastings had passed many years in retirement, 

and had long outlived the common age of men, he again 

became for a short time an object of general attention. 

In 1 813 the charter of the East India Company was 

30 renewed; and much discussion about Indian affairs took 
place in Parliament. It was determined to examine 
witnesses at the bar of the Commons; and Hastings was 
ordered to attend. He had appeared at that bar once 



WARREN HASTINGS 147 

before. It was when he read his answer to the charges 
which Burke had laid on the table. Since that time 
twenty-seven years had elapsed; pubHc feeling had under- 
gone a complete change; the nation had now forgotten 
his faults, and remembered only his services. The 5 
reappearance, too, of a man who had been among the 
most distinguished of a generation that had passed away, 
who now belonged to history, and who seemed to have 
risen from the dead, could not but produce a solemn and 
pathetic effect. The Commons received him with accla- 10 
mations, ordered a chair to be set for him, and when he 
retired, rose and uncovered. There were, indeed, a few 
who did not sympathise with the general feeling. One or 
two of the managers of the impeachment were present. 
They sate in the same seats which they had occupied 15 
when they had been thanked for the services which they 
had rendered in Westminster Hall: for, by the courtesy 
of the House, a member who has been thanked in his 
place is considered as having a right always to occupy 
that place. These gentlemen were not disposed to admit 20 
that they had employed several of the best years of their 
Hves in persecuting an innocent man. They accordingly 
kept their seats, and pulled their hats over their brows; 
but the exceptions only made the prevailing enthusiasm 
more remarkable. The Lords received the old man with 25 
similar tokens of respect. The University of Oxford 
conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws; and, in 
the Sheldonian Theatre, the under-graduates welcomed 
him with tumultuous cheering. 

These marks of public esteem were soon followed by 30 
marks of royal favour. Hastings was sworn of the Privy 
Council, and was admitted to a long private audience 
of the Prince Regent, who treated him very graciously. 



148 WARREN HASTINGS 

When the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia 
visited England, Hastings appeared in their train both 
at Oxford and in the Guildhall of London, and, though 
surrounded by a crowd of princes and great warriors, was 

5 every where received by the pubhc with marks of respect 
and admiration. He was presented by the Prince Regent 
both to Alexander and to Frederic WilHam; and his 
Royal Highness went so far as to declare in public that 
honours far higher than a seat in the Privy Council were 

10 due, and would soon be paid, to the man who had saved 
the British dominions in Asia. Hastings now con- 
fidently expected a peerage; but, from some unexplained 
cause, he was again disappointed. 

He lived about four years longer, in the enjoyment of 

15 good spirits, of faculties not impaired to any painful or 
degrading extent, and of health such as is rarely enjoyed 
by those who attain such an age. At length, on the 
twenty-second of August, 1818, in the eighty-sixth year 
of his age, he met death with the same tranquil and 

20 decorous fortitude which he had opposed to all the trials 
of his various and eventful life. 

With all his faults, — and they were neither few nor 
small, — only one cemetery was worthy to contain his 
remains. In that temple of silence and reconciliation 

25 where the enmities of twenty generations lie buried, in 
the great Abbey which has during many ages afforded a 
quiet resting-place to those whose minds and bodies have 
been shattered by the contentions of the Great Hall, the 
dust of the illustrious accused should have mingled with 

30 the dust of the illustrious accusers. This was not to be. 
Yet the place of interment was not ill chosen. Behind 
the chancel of the parish church of Daylesford, in earth 
which already held the bones of many chiefs of the house 



WARREN HASTINGS 149 

of Hastings, was laid the coffin of the greatest man who 
has ever borne that ancient and widely extended name. 
On that very spot probably, fourscore years before, the 
little Warren, meanly clad and scantily fed, had played 
with the children of ploughmen. Even then his young 5 
mind had revolved plans which might be called romantic. 
Yet, however romantic, it is not likely that they had been 
so strange as the truth, ^l^ot only had the poor orphan] 
retrieved the fallen fortunes of his line. Not only had he 
repurchased the old lands, and rebuilt the old dwelling. 10 
He had preserved and extended an empire. He had 
founded a polity. He had administered government and 
war with more than the capacity of Richelieu. He had 
patronised learning with the judicious liberality of Cosmo. 
He had been attacked by the most formidable combina- 1 5 
tion of enemies that ever sought the destruction of a single 
victim; and over that combination, after a struggle of 
ten years, he had triumphed. He had at length gone 
down to his grave in the fulness of age, in peace, after so 
many troubles, in honour, after so much obloquy. , 20 

Those who look on his character without favour or 
malevolence will pronounce that, in the two great ele- 
ments of all social virtue, in respect, for the rights of 
others, and in sympathy for the sufferings of others, he 
w^as deficient. His principles were somewhat lax. His 25 
heart was somewhat hard. But while we cannot with 
truth describe him either as a righteous or as a merciful 
ruler, we cannot regard without admiration the amplitude 
and fertility of his intellect, his rare talents for command, 
for administration, and for controversy, his dauntless 30 
courage, his honourable poverty, his fervent zeal for the 
interests of the state, his noble equanimity, tried by both 
extremes of fortune, and never disturbed by either. 



NOTES 

Page 3. line i. This book: the Essay on Warren Hastings, 
like many other of Macaulay's essays, first appeared in the 
Edinburgh Review as a review of a particular book, Memoirs of 
the Life of Warren Hastings, written by the Rev. G. R. Gleig 
and pubhshed in London, 1841. A discussion of Macaulay's 
strictures on this book is given in the Introduction. 

4. 5. The Prince: The famous book of Machiavelli (1469- 
1527). It has been interpreted as excusing duplicity and tyranny 
in political affairs. 

4. 6. The Whole Duty of Man: the title of a religious book, 
pubhshed in 1657, and long popular. 

5. 4. Lely, Sir Peter (i6i8-i68o):a native of Holland who 
settled in London and became a famous painter of portraits. 

5. 10. Curl-pated minions: the fashionable courtiers of the 
Stuarts wore their hair in long curls. The men of the parliamen- 
tary party wore their hair close cut — hence their nickname 
" Roundheads." James I won an unenviable notoriety on 
account of his favourites or minions. 

5. 20. Sea-King: Hasting, a Scandinavian viking of the 
ninth century, ravaged the shores of England and of France 
until he was defeated by King Alfred in 894. His exploits are in 
part legendary. 

5. 26. Coronet of Pembroke: they became Earls of Pem- 
broke. 

5. 27. The renowned Chamberlain: Lord William Hastings 
(1430-1483), an adherent of the House of York whose badge was 
the White Rose. He was a favourite of Edward IV, who made 
him Grand Chamberlain of the Royal Household, but he was 
beheaded in 1483 by the order of Richard III. He is a frequent 
character in imaginative literature, notably in Shakespeare's 
King Richard III. 

5. 30. The Earldom of Huntingdon: The title was dormant 
for thirty years, until 1819, when Captain Hans-Francis Hastings 

151 



152 NOTES 

succeeded in proving his descent from the second earl (1560), 
and was called to the House of Lords as eleventh Earl of Hunt- 
ingdon. The romance lay partly in the strange series of events 
that left Captain Hastings, who was but a distant relative, the 
only Hving claimant to the title, and partly in the fact that the 
claim was finally pushed to a successful issue not by the claimant 
himself but by his friend and legal adviser, Mr. Bell, who bore the 
entire expense and responsibility. 

6. II. Speaker Lenthal (1591-1662): Speaker of the House 
of Commons in the period of the Commonwealth. 

7. 15. Isis: a name sometimes given to the Thames in its 
upper course. 

8. 3. Westminster School: one of the famous " public 
schools " of England, established by Henry VII and re-estab- 
lished by Queen Elizabeth. 

8. 4. Vinny Bourne: Vincent (" Vinny ") Bourne, scholar 
and teacher, was a great favourite with his pupils. He was well 
known as a writer of Latin verse. Cowper says, " I love the 
memory of Vincy Bourne." 

8. 6. Churchill, Charles (i 731-1764): a famous satirist of 
his day, whose best poem. The Rosciad, was directed against the 
actors of that time. 

8. 6. Colman, George (i 733-1 794): a celebrated dramatist 
whose best comedy. The Jealous Wife, long held the stage. 

8. 6. Lloyd, Robert (i 733-1 764): a minor poet, and friend 
of Churchill. 

8. 6. Cumberland, Richard (i 732-181 1) : a well-known dram- 
atist and essayist of the eighteenth century. His best play is 
The West Indian. 

8. 6. Cowper, William (1731-1800): the great English poet, 
who was also the writer of some of the most delightful letters 
in the language. 

8. 33. Elijah Impey: Sir Elijah Impey (i 732-1809), Chief 
Justice of Bengal. He was educated at Westminster School, 
where he was a school-mate of Hastings, and at Trinity College, 
Cambridge. He studied law, appeared as counsel for the East 
India Company in 1772, and served as Chief Justice of Bengal 
from 1774 to 1789. In India, he was concerned in important 
litigation, his most celebrated case being that of Nuncomar, 
whom, after a fair trial, he and his colleagues sentenced to death. 



NOTES 153 

Though bitterly opposed and hampered in his reforms by Sir 
PhiHp Francis he did good work in settling the legal code and in 
establishing the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. In 1784 he 
returned to England to defend himself against charges instigated 
by Francis; and, though impeached at the bar of the House of 
Commons in 1788, ably defended himself, and was fully vindi- 
cated. 

Impey, even apart from his profession, was a man of excel- 
lent education; and, on the whole, seems to have been an able 
jurist of perfectly honest intentions; yet it is perhaps true that a 
certain weakness of character made him sometimes too amenable 
to the suggestions of Warren Hastings. Macaulay's estimate of 
his character, based partly on the misrepresentations of Impey's 
enemies and partly on pure assumption, is misleading and unfair. 

9. 7. Foundation: in general, an endowment the income from 
which is devoted to some purpose of charity; more strictly, an 
endowment at some school or college, the income from which 
supports a student or students. Here, the reference is to a scholar- 
ship at Westminster School. 

9. II. Christ Church: one of the colleges of Oxford Uni- 
versity. 

9. 24. Writership: a technical term meaning a clerkship in 
the East India Company. 

9. 24. The East India Company: There were several East 
India Companies, in various countries, but the present reference 
is to that of England. This famous organisation, nientioned so 
often in this Essay, was composed originally of London mer- 
chants, incorporated by Queen Elizabeth on December 31, 1600^ 
as " The Governor and Company of Merchants of London 
trading with the East Indies." The Company's first important 
achievement was to obtain from the Mogul Emperor at Delhi 
in 161 2 the privilege of erecting a " factory " or trading-station 
at Surat. In 1645, the .native Hindoos permitted the Company 
to build Fort St. George at Madras. In 1661, King Charles II 
granted the Company the power to make peace or war with 
infidels, to erect forts, to acquire land, and to exercise civil and 
criminal jurisdiction in its settlements. This was the real be- 
ginning of its political power. In 1668, the Company obtained 
a grant of the island of Bombay; and, in 1675, established a 
factory on the river Hugh, thus leading to the founding of Cal- 



154 NOTES 

cutta. A series of political conquests, begun in 1749, led finally 
to the Company's complete control of British India. In 1.784, 
the Parliament of England established a government Board of 
Control (Pitt's " India Bill ") over the Company in the interest 
of the Crown. Finally, in 1858, when the British East India 
Company had gained what practically amounted to the entire 
sovereignty of India, it surrendered its possessions to the Crown 
— that is, to the English nation, — and so passed out of exist- 
ence. This brief account can give only a faint idea of the 
remarkable history of the most powerful commercial corporation 
the world has ever known. In his History of England, Vol. IV, 
ch. XVIII, Macaulay himself gives a most brilliant and interest- 
ing resume of its history down to the time of James II. 

9. 32. Bengal: The N. E. part of British India, watered by 
the Ganges and its tributaries. At the time of Hastings, the term 
was very loosely applied, but it seems to have included about the 
same territory as at presont. In the meantime, however, there 
have been great variations in the meaning of " Bengal " as a 
geographical designation. 

10. 3. Fort William: built in 1696 to protect the town of 
Calcutta. 

10. 4. Dupleix, Joseph (1697-1764): a French merchant, 
ambitious and resourceful, who served from 1742 to 1754 as 
Governor-general of the French establishments in India. He was 
finally overcome by Clive, and was recalled to France in dis- 
grace. Dupleix figures largely in Macaulay's Essay on Clive, of 
part of which this paragraph is a brief summary. 

ID. 7. The Carnatic: a name formerly given to a section of 
country on the S. E. coast of India from Cape Cormorin to 16° 
N. It passed into the control of the English in 1801, and is now 
included in the presidency of Madras. 

ID. 9. Robert Clive: Baron Clive of Plassey (i 725-1 774), 
English general and statesman, and, except Hastings, the great- 
est figure in the history of British India. He was the son of a 
country squire. In 1743, he became a " writer " in the Company's 
employ at Madras, but, in 1747, entered the army and so found 
his true vocation. Here he rose steadily in rank and influence. 
In the second war with the French (i 751-1754) he captured Arcot. 
He visited England in 1753, but returned to India in 1755 as 
governor of Fort St. David. In 1756, he commanded the expedi- 



NOTES 155 

tion against Surajah Dowlah, Nabob of Bengal, to avenge the 
crime of " The Black Hole of Calcutta." He gained a great vic- 
tory over the Nabob at Plassey, June 23, 1757; whereupon he 
deposed the Nabob and raised Mir Jaffier to the throne. Clive 
was appointed governor of Bengal in 1758; defeated the Dutch 
near Chinsura in 1759; but, on account of ill health, returned 
to England in 1760. In this same year, as a reward for his ser- 
vices as statesman and general, he was raised to the peerage as 
Baron Clive of Plassey. He was again governor of Bengal from 
1765 to 1767, but finally, through his ill health, resigned and 
returned to England. Official inquiry into his conduct as gover- 
nor, by Parliament, resulted practically in his favour in 1773; 
yet the disgrace affected him so terribly that he committed sui- 
cide in 1774. Macaulay's Essay on Clive (edited by Preston 
Farrar in Longman's English Classics), one of his finest produc- 
tions, presents a brilliant picture of Clive's career, and should be 
read as an introduction to the Essay on Warren Hastings. 

10. 20. The Mogul (Mughal): sovereign of the Mahometan 
empire in India, the capital of which was Delhi. This, one of 
the most famous empires of history, was not of Hindoo but for- 
eign origin. " Mogul " means Mongol, and the Moguls were 
Afghans in race and Mahometans in religion. This Mahometan 
empire in India was founded by Baber in 1526, reached its high- 
est estate under Aurengzebe (d. 1707), had its power shattered 
by the invasion of Nadir Shah of Persia in 1739, and finally be- 
came extinct in 1857. Among the Mogul rulers were Akbar the 
Great (one of the greatest sovereigns of history) and Shah Jehan, 
the builder of the Taj Mahal. In the eighteenth century, after 
the invasion of Nadir Shah, the empire lay open to the com- 
bined attacks of the Afghans, the Rajpoots, and the Mahrattas, 
and there ensued the " great anarchy " referred to by Macaulay 
(see p. 78). Some general idea of the nature of the Mogul em- 
pire is essential to any understanding of the present Essay, so 
closely connected were its fortunes with those of the East India 
Company. 

10. 31. Surajah Dowlah; The "Black Hole": Surajah 
Dowlah, " Nabob " (Nawab) of Bengal, declared war against 
the English, and gained control of Calcutta. The " Black Hole " 
was the strong-room of Fort William. Into this small room were 
thrust, either by the Nabob's orders or through his negligence, 



156 NOTES 

146 English prisoners. Only 23 survived the night. This tragedy 
occurred on June 20, 1756; and is described in a famous passage 
in Macaulay's Essay on Clive, beginning, " Then was committed 
that great crime." The crime was amply avenged by Clive at 
the battle of Plassey (see note, 10-9) in which Surajah Dowlah 
was terribly defeated. He died in the same year. 

II. 3. The Dutch Company: This was an organisation in 
Holland, corresponding to the Companies of England and of 
France, and a rival of both. 

II. 33. Meer Jaffier: an officer in the army of Surajah 
Dowlah, Nabob of Bengal, who plotted with Clive to overthrow 
his master. Clive made him Nabob of Bengal, and supported 
him against the attacks of the Mogul Emperor. He was de- 
throned in 1 76 1. 

13. 14. Rotten Boroughs: Parliamentary districts of Eng- 
land where the population had been greatly reduced or had even 
entirely disappeared. Such boroughs had no real right to repre- 
sentation in Parliament, and were the objects of corruption and 
bribery: they could be bought by the highest bidder. 

13. 15. St. James's Square: An aristocratic part of London. 

15. 13. Hafiz and Ferdusi: Two Persian poets of the four- 
teenth and tenth centuries respectively. 

15' 15- Johnson, Dr. Samuel (1709-1784): one of the 
greatest of English men of letters; compiler of the Dictionary; 
author of Rasselas, The Vanity of Human Wishes, The Lives of 
the Poets, and other works. 

15. 28. Directors: the business affairs of the East India 
Company were managed by a " Court of Directors " composed 
of twenty-four members, chosen annually from among the 
general body of share-holders known as the " Court of Pro- 
prietors." 

15. 31. Madras: settled by the English in 1639, and defended 
by Fort St. George. It now has a population of over half a mil- 
lion. 

16. 9. Pagoda: a gold or silver coin current in India, in 
value about $1.70. 

16. 22. Indiaman: a sailing-vessel of large tonnage officered 
and armed by the East India Company for the India trade. 

17. 27. Franconia: probably Imhoff's native country; one 
of the duchies of the old German kingdom. The name now 



NOTES 



157 



denotes a region in the kingdom of Bavaria, which is a part of 
the present German empire. 

19. 19. Augustulus: " Little Augustus," so called in derision 
of his youth, reigned from 475 to 476 a.d., and was the last 
emperor of the Western Roman Empire. His father drove Julius 
Nepos from the throne and placed his own young son Augustus 
upon it. Odoacer, a barbarian soldier, who had assisted in the 
revolution, took advantage of the weakness of "Augustulus," 
drove him from his throne, and became the first barbarian King 
of Italy. 

19. 19. Merovingians; Charles Martel; Pepin: The Mero- 
vingians, the first dynasty of Prankish kings in Gaul, began their 
rule in the fifth century. They became in time mere puppets, 
their power having passed into hands of ofi&cials known as 
Mayors of the Palace. Of these latter Charles Martel (690-741) 
was the greatest; and it was his son, Pepin, " the Short," who, 
in 751, deposed Childeric, last of the Merovingian kings; and 
founded a new dynasty, the " Carlovingian." Pepin's son was 
Charlemagne. 

19. 28. At present: in 1841, when this Essay was written. 

20. 4. Mr. Pitt: William Pitt (1759-1806), son of the first 
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, was Prime Minister of England 
in 1783, and, in 1784, passed his famous " India Bill " providing 
for a Board of Control over the East India Company. 

20. 5, Mr. Dundas: Henry Dundas (1742-1811), a Scotch 
lawyer, who became Viscount Melville. He was at one time first 
lord of the Admiralty, was impeached and acquitted in 1806, 
and restored to ofiice in the following year. 

20. 5. Mr. Burke: Edmund Burke (1729-1797), among the 
world's greatest orators, statesmen, and writers. One of his most 
celebrated speeches was directed against Warren Hastings. 

21. 19. Mussulman: a Mahometan. 

21. 26. Hindoo; Brahmin: the Hindoos are the great domi- 
nant race of India, descended from the original Aryan con- 
querors. They are divided by their religion into four castes, or 
social orders, the highest of which is the Brahmin caste, named 
from the god Brahma. The Brahmins claim to be the sole inter- 
preters of the sacred writings, and hold themselves scornfully 
aloof from the other castes and from all foreigners as well. This 
caste system has been for centuries the curse of India- 



158 NOTES 

22. 19, Ionian: an inhabitant of Ionia, in Asia Minof. 

22. 19. Juvenal: a great satirical poet of ancient Rome 

(6o?-I40 A.D.). 

22. 28, Sepoy: a native Indian soldier in the service of the 
English. 

23. 4. Stoics: members of the sect of philosophy founded by 
Zeno " their ideal sage " who taught that men should conquer 
their passions, and so face either joy or sorrow with indiiEference. 

23.. 12. Mucius: according to legend, when Lars Porsena 
besieged Rome, 509 B.C., Mucius, a Roman soldier, concealed 
a dagger on his person, and sought the king's camp. By mistake 
he killed, not the king, but the king's secretary. When threat- 
ened with death by fiire unless he revealed the details of conspiracy 
formed in Rome against the King's life, Mucius, to show his cour- 
age, held his right hand in the altar fire. Porsena released him. 

23. 13. Algernon Sydney (1622-1683): an English politi- 
cian and patriot, and member of the Parliamentary party. After 
the Restoration, on the discovery of the Rye House Plot, he was 
arrested, tried by the infamous Judge Jeffreys (see note, 71-1) 
found guilty on various trumped-up charges, and beheaded. He 
died with wonderful fortitude. 

24. 18. Mohurs: gold coins worth about $7.50. 

26. 7. Memorable day; Captain Knox: In 1760 the city of 
Patna, held by the British troops, was besieged by the army of the 
Mogul. After a long and brave resistance, the garrison was almost 
exhausted, when the city was saved by the arrival of Captain 
Knox. He had marched 200 miles in thirteen days under a burn- 
ing sun. With his small force he attacked the Mogul's troops out- 
side the city and utterly defeated them. 

26. 8. Patna: a city on the Ganges, now an important manu- 
facturing center with a population of about 134,000. 

28. 20. Teviotdale: a name sometimes given to Roxburgh- 
shire in southern Scotland. 

30. I. For another view of Hastings' treatment of the 
Nabob of Bengal and the Mogul emperor, see Introduction. 

30. 7. Corah and Allahabad: provinces east of Bengal and 
south of Oude. 

30. 28. Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg: these rulers 
of two countries in the German Empire were called Electors 
because they had a vote each in electing the Emperor. 



NOTES 159 

31. 19. Sanscrit: the ancient language of India and the old- 
est of all Indo-European languages, now no longer spoken, but 
replaced by many modern Hindoo dialects. 

31. 20. Hyphasis and Hystaspes: these rivers of India, the 
modern names of which are the Sutlej and the Jelum (or Jhelam), 
are tributaries of the Chenab, which flows into the Indus, in the 
extreme western part of India. 

31. 26. Ghizni: the English flag was planted on Ghizni, an 
Afghan fortress, in 1839. 

32. 18. Rohilcund: a province lying northwest of Oude, in 
northern India." The Rohillas were not the native population, 
but a conquering aristocracy, Afghans in race and Mahometans 
in religion. 

32. 20. Sujah Dowlah: Vizier of Oude from 1754 to 1775. 
He is not to be confounded with Surajah Dowlah, the infamous 
Nabob of Bengal, who was overcome by Clive at Plassey (see 
note, 10-9). 

32. 23. Catherine: the Empress of Russia, who combined 
with Prussia and Austria in an unjust partition of Poland. 

32. 24. Bonaparte: Napoleon, in 1808, placed his brother 
Joseph upon the throne of Spain, to which he had no shadow of 
right. 

33. 31. Mr. Gleig: author of the Life of Warren Hastings 
which Macaulay is supposed to be reviewing. See Introduction. 

34. 24. Major Scott: an officer in the Bengal army, who 
afterwards served as Warren Hastings' personal agent in London. 

34. 32. Caput Lupinum: " a wolfish head." As a wolf is 
destroyed or driven out when it invades an inhabited country, 
so, Macaulay would intimate, a band of foreign settlers may 
be subjected to the same treatment. 

36. 7. Lac: 100,000 rupees. The rupee varies in value from 
fifty to thirty-seven cents, approximately; hence a lac of rupees 
would vary in value from $50,000 to ,$3 7,600; at most, forty lacs 
would equal $2,000,000. 

38. 30. Letters of Junius: What is perhaps the greatest 
mystery of English literary history hangs about these famous 
letters. To this day, although they were among the most cele- 
brated and influential writings of their time, their real author- 
ship is unknown. " Junius " was the signature attached to a 
series of letters on political subjects that appeared from Nov. 



lao NOTES 

1768 to Jan. 1772 in the London Public Advertiser, edited by 
Woodfall. They bitterly attacked the British ministry .and 
abounded in scathing criticisms of public men. In the main, 
they are ably written, but are no longer considered really good 
literature. Macaulay is probably right in naming Francis as the 
author, though until recently the trend of critical opinion was 
against this conclusion. 

39. 9. Lord Chatham: William Pitt, the elder (1708-17 78), 
one of England's greatest statesman and orators; father of the 
author of the " India Bill." 

40. 10. Corneille (i 606-1 684): a French dramatist and the 
creator of French tragedy. His best tragedies are probably Le 
Cid, Cinna, and Polyeucte. 

40. II. Ben Jonson (1573-1637): next to Shakespeare, the 
greatest of Elizabethan dramatists. His best comedies are 
Volpone, The Alchemist, Every Man in His Humour, The Silent 
Woman, and Bartholomew Fair. 

40. 12. Bunyan (1628-1688): the author of The Pilgrim's 
Progress wrote also The Holy War and Grace Abounding to the 
Chief of Sinners, besides other works of less merit. 

40. 13. Cervantes (1547-1616): the greatest imaginative 
writer of Spain. His Don Quixote is but one of his works, though 
by far the finest. 

40. 17. Home Tooke: John Home Tooke (i736-i§i2), 
clergyman, politician, and philologist, and author of a well- 
known work called The Diversions of Purley. 

40. 25. Woodfall: the publisher of the Letters of Junius. 

40. 32. " Doest thou well to be angry? " see Jonah, IV, 9. 

41. 12. Old Sarum: a place in Wiltshire, two miles. from 
Salisbury, noted as the most notorious of the " rotten boroughs." 
Though without a single inhabitant, it returned two members of 
Parliament, but was disfranchised by the Reform Bill of 1832. 

41. 13. Capitalists of Manchester and Leeds: although 
boroughs such as Old Sarum were sending members to Parlia- 
ment, yet several important and wealthy cities were quite 
without representation until after the passage of the Reform 
Bill. 

41. 22. George Grenville (171 2-1770): a Prime Minister of 
England under George III, who started the prosecution of John 
Wilkes (see note, 41-25). 



NOTES i6i 

41. 25, The Middlesex Election: one of the most notorious 
events in English political history. John Wilkes, editor of a 
political organ called The North Briton, was a bitter opponent of 
the government. When elected M. P. for Middlesex in 1768, he 
was prosecuted, and was debarred from taking his seat in Parlia- 
ment. Middlesex elected him three times; he became a popular 
hero, rose to be Lord Mayor of London, and was at last allowed 
to take his place in Parliament. 

42. 13. Innsof Court: the inner Temple, the Middle Temple, 
Lincoln's Inn, and Gray's Inn, are four law colleges or corporate 
societies in London, which hold the exclusive privilege of calling 
candidates to the bar and which maintain instruction and exam- 
ination for that purpose. 

43. 14. The Mahrattas: this term is used so frequently in 
the present Essay, and the history of the Mahrattas was so 
closely connected with that of the English in India, that the reader 
should get a reasonably clear and definite, even though limited, 
idea of who the Mahrattas were and what was their " empire " 
or confederation. 

The Mahrattas were a native Hindoo race inhabiting western 
central India, with a capital and strongholds in the mountains 
known as the Western Ghauts. They were at first subject to the 
Mahometan kings of Bijapur, but, under their leader Siraji, in 
1-657 rebelled, and founded an independent state. Later, they 
even defied the Mogul empire, under the leadership of various 
chieftains, such as the Bonslas, Holkar, Scindia, and the Gikwar, 
each of whom vastly extended the Mahratta empire and founded 
new states and dynasties. At last the various states formed 
themselves into a confederation that supplanted the Mogul 
empire as the dominant power in India. The Mahratta conquests 
reached their maximum in 1750, when the Confederation actually 
controlled 700,000 square miles of territory and 90,000,000 
people. This vast power was used by the French against the 
English, with whom the Mahrattas waged three great wars, in 
1780, 1803, and 1816-18, the confederacy being shattered in the 
last conflict. Since it had no central authority, the Mahratta 
empire was never a firm confederation, and hence was always 
subject to serious intestine disturbances, which in time led to its 
dissolution. 

44. 28. Gates, Bedloe, and Dangerfield: it was during the 



i62 . NOTES 

reign of Charles II that these men pretended to have unearthed 
dreadful plots made by the CathoHcs against the government 
— notably the Rye House Plot. On the evidence of Oates, Lord 
Stafford, a Catholic, was beheaded. 

48. 18. Assizes: the name given in England to regular 
sessions of the courts for the trial of serious offences. 

48. 18. True Bill: a bill of indictment endorsed by the 
Grand Jury on evidence sufficient to warrant a trial. 

52. 12. Dacca: a division in eastern Bengal. 

52. 29. For Hastings' connection with the trial of Nuncomar 
(see Introduction). 

53. 18. Lord Stafford: see note, 44-28. 

55. 9. Tour to the Hebrides: the true name of the book is 
A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland, written by Dr. Johnson 
(see note, 15-15), and published in 1775. 

55. 10. Jones's Persian Grammar: a work written by Sir 
William Jones (i 746-1 794), the most famous scholar of his day 
in oriental languages, and published in 1 771. 

55. 25. Cf. Macbeth I, v, 20. 

55. 26. The Regulating Act: passed in 1773. Nuncomar was 
executed in 1776. 

55. 29. Lord North: Prime Minister of England from 1770 
to 1782. 

56. 3. Court of Directors: see note, 15-28. 

56. 29. Crown lawyers: in England, the Lord Chancellor, 
the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, and the Judge- 
Advocate-General, are members of the government, and give 
advice in legal matters. 

57. 25. Subsidiary alliances: other than the chief alliance of 
the English, that with the Mogul. 

57. 27. Berar: north of Hyderabad. 

60. 10. Dangers: at this time (1778) England was involved 
in war with her American colonies, with France, with Holland, 
and with Spain, and was losing on every side. 

60. 16. George the Third: Shortly before the accession of this 
king in 1760, the English arms had been victorious on the Con- 
tinent, and, in America, Canada had been added to the British 
empire. 

60. 27. Genius: the elder Pitt, Lord Chatham. 

61. I. Armed neutrality: Russia, Sweden, and Denmark 



^ NOTES 163 

combined, in 1780, to oppose England in her claim to the right 
of searching their ships. 

61. 3. Calpe: the ancient name of Gibraltar. 

61. 18. Sevajee (Sivaji); the Bonslas; Guicowar (Gikwar); 
Scindia; Holkar (see note, 43-14). 

62. I. Gooti: in the hills north of Mysore. 

62. 7. Oude: one of the most important countries of India, 
lying in the North East, between Nepal on the north and the 
river Ganges on the south; a Mahometan state, ruled by a 
sovereign called the Vizier, and nominally subject to the Mogul, 
as were Mysore and Hyderabad. 

62. 7. Nizam: a Hindoo word meaning " regulator " or 
" governor," and applied to the sovereigns of Hyderabad, a 
Mahometan state, nominally subject to the Mogul empire. 

62. 9. House of Tamerlane: Baber, founder of the Mogul 
empire (see note, 10-20), was fifth in descent from Tamerlane 
(1333-1405), a Tartar conqueror, who crossed the Himalayas 
and subdued a part of northern India. Although his invasion 
left no permanent impression, his exploits yet inspired Baber, 
who became the first Mogul of the " House of Tamerlane." 

62. 13. Roi faineant: " Les Rois faineants " (the do-nothing, 
or sluggard, kings) was a name given to Clovis II (d. 656) and to 
his successors of the Merovingian line. They were controlled by 
their Mayors of the Palace (see note, 19-19). 

62. 13. Bang: an Indian variety of the common hemp, which 
yields a highly intoxicating resin, and the leaves of which are 
chewed, smoked, or made into an infusion as a drink. 

62. 14. Sattara (Satara): a city 100 miles S. E. of Bombay. 

62. 16. Poonah: a city about seventy-five miles S. E. of 
Bombay. 

62. 18. Auningabad: a district N. W. of Hyderabad. 

62. 18. Bejapoor (Bejapur): a district S. W. of Hyderabad. 

63. 9. Pondicherry: the capital of the French possessions 
in India, on the eastern coast, eighty-six miles south of Madras; 
occupied by the French in 1672; several times conquered and held 
by the English; and finally restored to the French in 1816. 

63. 15. Lascars: native sailors of India. 

64. 5. Plassey: see note, 10-9. 

64. 10. Lally: a French general of Irish descent, commander- 
in-chief of the French forces in India from 1756 to 1761. He was 



i64 NOTES 

defeated by Sir Eyre Coote at WandewasH, surrendered Pondi- 
cherry, and was beheaded on his return to France in i76i'. 

64. 27. Porto Novo and PoUilore: two of Sir Eyre Coote's 
victories over Hyder Ali in 1781. 

64. 33. Salam: "Peace" — the ordinary Oriental form of 
salutation, 

67. II. Arrest on mesne process: mesne means " middle "; 
and a mesne process is that part of a suit which intervenes 
between the issue of the original writ and the final proceedings. 
In India at this time, the first step in legal proceedings seems to 
have been unfairly dispensed with. 

67. 32. Wat Tyler: leader of The Peasants' Revolt in Eng- 
land in 1381. He is said to have killed a tax-gatherer who had 
insulted his daughter. 

68. 17. Spunging -houses : houses where persons arrested for 
debt were detained for twenty-four hours before being taken to 
prison, in order that their friends might have a chance to settle 
the debt. The charges for accommodations were extortionate. 

68. 27. Alguazils: a Spanish word meaning a constable or 
some inferior officer of justice. 

71. I. Ermine: the costly white fur used for adorning the 
robes of judges; here the word stands metaphorically for the 
judicial bench. 

71. I. Jeffreys (1648-1689): a brutal and unscrupulous 
judge in the reigns of Charles II and James II of England who has 
become infamous in history. 

73. 19. Dervise: a Mahometan monk, living on charity. 

73. 31. Louis the Eleventh (1423-1483): one of the most 
able of the kings of France, who founded that absolute mon- 
archy of the French kings which was broken in the French Revo- 
lution. He is a prominent figure in Scott's novel Quentin Durward. 

74. 7. Mysore: one of the largest and most important 
countries of India, lying in the southern part between the Eastern 
and the Western Ghauts. Like the kingdoms of Hyderabad and 
Oude, it was ruled by Mahometan sovereigns subject to the 
Mogul. 

74. 27. Coleroon: a river, called also the Cauvery, rising in 
Mysore and flowing S. E. into the Bay of Bengal. 

74. 29. Mount St. Thomas: a hill ten miles inland from 
Madras. Macaulay must have meant " western " and not " east- 



NOTES 165 

ern " sky; furthermore, such a view as is here described is hardly- 
possible from Mount St. Thomas. 

75. 19. Tanks: reservoirs. 

75. 25. Coromandel: that part of the eastern coast of India 
lying on the Bay of Bengal between Calimere Point and the 
mouths of the river Krishna. 

75. 30. Monsoon: a wind in the Indian ocean blowipg 
regularly from the S. W. during the summer (April to October), 
and from the N. E. during the winter (November to March), 

78. 2. St. James's and Petit Trianon: St. James's is a palace 
of the English kings, in London; the Petit Trianon was a palace 
of the French kings, in Versailles. 

78. 4. Golconda: a town seven miles N. W. of the city of 
Hyderabad, noted for its cutting of diamonds. " The mines of 
Golconda " are entirely mythical: there are no diamond mines 
there. 

78. 4. Cashmere (Kashmir): a native state under British 
control; it lies N. W. of India in the Himalayas, and is especially 
noted for its shawls, made from the wool of the Cashmere goat. 

78. 8. The great anarchy: see note, 10-20. 

78. 18. Cheyte Sing: for a different view of Hastings' con- 
duct, see Introduction. 

79. 16. Hugh Capet: chosen king of France on the death of 
the last of the Carlovingian line in 987. Though this marked 
the beginning of the modern kingdom of France, yet the king- 
dom was not united, since many dukes and counts (e.g. Brittany 
and Normandy) were disposed to assert their independence, and 
paid to the king only a nominal homage, 

79. 22. Charles the Tenth: king of France, 18 24-1 830. 
The ordinances made in 1830 by the king and his ministry restrict- 
ing the freedom of the press and providing for new modes of elec- 
tion, etc., were a direct breach of the king's oath of adherence to 
the charter, and led to his abdication. 

79. 26. Prince Louis Bonaparte: nephew of the great Napo- 
leon. His attempt at Strassburg, in 1836, to overthrow the throne 
of Louis Philippe resulted in failure. He became Emperor of 
the French in 185 1 with the title of Napoleon the Third. 

80. 13. De facto; de jure: a government de facto has power 
in fact irrespective of legal sanction; a government de jure is one 
based on legal right. 



I 66 NOTES 

88. 27. Lucknow: the capital of Oude, on the river Goomti, 
a tributary of the Ganges. 

89. 15. The Begums: Macaulay does not present a fair 
view of Hastings' treatment of the Begums (see Introduction). 

89. 17. Dotation: endowment. 

89. 22. Fyzabad: in Oude, sixty-five miles east of Lucknow. 

95. 6. The Revolution: the English revolution in 1688 that 
drove James II from the throne and placed upon it William and 
Mary. Macaulay refers to Jeffreys, who at this time lost his 
power (see note, 71-1). 

95. 19. The great parties: the Whigs and the Tories; their 
successors are now known as the Liberals and the Conservatives. 

96. II. A single branch of the legislature: here refers to the 
House of Commons, 

96. 25. The great crimes: see Introduction. 

97. 28. Emperor Joseph (i 741-1 790) : Joseph II of Germany, 
son of Maria Theresa. 

98. 25. Downing Street: a street in the West End of London, 
containing many of the important offices of the government and 
the residence of the Prime Minister; hence " Downing street " 
has come to mean simply the administration. 

98. 25. Somerset House: the office of the Inland Revenue 
Department and other government offices. 

99. 7. Marlborough (1650-1722): a great English general 
and statesman, who, in the War of the Spanish Succession, 
gained the battles of Blenheim (1704), Ramilies (1706), etc. He 
commanded, in addition to his English soldiers, Dutch and Ger- 
man troops, and was often exasperated by the unreasonable 
opposition of their generals. 

99. 8. Wellington (1769-185 2): he first served, as Sir 
Arthur Wellesley, in India against the Mahrattas; but, apart 
from Waterloo, his most brilliant service was in the Peninsular 
War in Spain and Portugal. In this campaign, though hampered 
in his activities by the authorities of both Spain and Portugal, and 
inadequately supported even by his own government, he defeated 
Napoleon's generals, and drove the French from the Peninsula. 

99. 9. Portuguese Regency: in consequence of the Queen's 
insanity, the Prince Royal of Portugal was acting as regent. 

99. ID. The Spanish Juntas: in Spain, a legislative assembly, 
either for the whole country or for one of its separate parts. 



NOTES 167 

99. 10. Mr.Percival (i 762-181 2) : Prime Minister of England 
during the Peninsular War, who was charged with failing to furnish 
Wellington with necessary supplies. But Wellington himself de- 
nied the charge, and Perceval himself seems to have been blame- 
less. (Perceval is the correct spelling.) 

loi. 6. Adam Smith (1723-1700): a great political econo- 
mist. His famous work. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of 
the Wealth of Nations, marked an epoch in the history of political 
economy, and may even be said to have founded the science. 

loi. 8. Dotages — Arabian expositions: Oriental learning 
was largely the product of superstition. The Greeks, though 
pre-eminent in philosophy and the fine arts, were possessed of 
very meagre and inaccurate scientific knowledge; yet this im- 
perfect science had passed to India through Arabian expositors, 
and, moreover, had deteriorated in the process. 

loi. II. A far more virtuous ruler: Lord William Bentinck, 
governor-general of India from 1828 to 1835; the object of 
Macaulay's enthusiastic admiration, which he seems fully to 
have merited (see the last paragraph of the Essay on Clive). 

loi. 23. The Asiatic Society: this society was formed in 
Calcutta in 1784 for the study of oriental literature. 

loi. 26. Sir William Jones: see note, p. 55, line 10. 

loi. 29. Pundits: broadly speaking, Hindoo scholars versed 
in the science, laws, and languages of India; more narrowly, 
teachers of the religious law. 

loi. 33. The Portuguese government: the first Europeans 
to settle in India in modern times were the Portuguese, who 
tried to force their trade and their religion upon the natives. 

105. 4. Zemindars: collectors of revenue on land. 

105. 7. Carlton House: a palace in London, owned by the 
Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV. 

105. 8. Palais Royal: a palace in Paris built by Cardinal 
Richelieu and given by him to the King of France. Louis XIV in 
turn gave it to the Duke of Orleans, whose family held it until 1848. 

105. 28. Round-house: the cabin or apartment on the 
after-part of the quarter-deck, having the poop for its roof. 

106. 7. Sir Charles Grandison: the hero of a famous novel 
of this same name written by Richardson, and published in 
1753. Sir Charles was a model of perfect breeding. 

106. 24. Horace (65 b.c. to 8 b.c): the famous lyric and 



I 68 NOTES 

satiric poet of ancient Rome. The first line of one of his Odes is 
" Otium Divos rogat " (every man prays the gods for quiet and 
ease). 

io6. 26. Lord Teignmouth: governor-general of India from 
1793 to 1798. 

107. 2. Leadenhall Street: a street in London on which were 
located the offices of the East India Company. 

107. 5. The Queen: Charlotte, wife of George III. 

108. I. Mr. Grattan (1746-1820): a famous Irish statesman 
and orator, who, in 1782, gained legislative independence for 
Ireland. 

108. II. Hannibal (247-183? b.c): the leader of the 
Carthaginians against the Romans, and one of the greatest 
generals of history. 

108. 12. Themistocles (b. latter part of sixth century B.C.; 
d. about 460 B.C.): one of the greatest of Greek statesmen and 
generals. He, together with Eurybiades, conducted the naval 
battle of Salamis, 480 B.C., in which the Greeks won a glorious 
victory over the vast fleet of Xerxes, king of Persia. 

108. 12. Trafalgar: one of the most famous naval victories 
in history, in which the English under Lord Nelson defeated the 
French under Admiral Villeneuve. It was fought in 1805, near 
the coast of Spain, off Cape Trafalgar. 

108. 25. Wedderbum (i 733-1805): a Scotch politician and 
jurist. 

lOQ* 33- Lord Mansfield (1705-1793): a great Scotch lawyer 
who rose to be Lord Chief Justice of England. 

no. 2. Lord Lansdowne (1737-1805): William Petty, Earl 
of Shelburne, Marquis of Lansdowne, was Prime Minister of 
England from 1782 to 1783. 

no. 7. Mr. Fox's East India Bill: Charles James Fox (1749- 
1806) was one of the most famous statesmen and orators of 
England, and the most formidable rival of the younger Pitt. He 
was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under the ministry of 
the Marquis of Rockingham in 1782, and introduced his " India 
Bill " in 1783. This bill was unsuccessful and must not be iden- 
tified with Pitt's India Bill, which passed in 1784. 

no. 17. Lord Chancellor Thurlow (173 2-1806): an eminent 
lawyer and statesman of this period, leader of the Tories in the 
House of Lords, and the opponent of Burke. 



NOTES 169 

no. 28. The Resolution of Censure: see p. 95. 

III. 26. Coalition: the followers of Fox, who were Whigs, 
united with those of Lord North, who were Tories, to oppose 
the Prime Minister, Lord Lansdowne. 

111. 30. The Wits of Brooks's: Brooks's Club in St. James's 
Street was the resort of Whig politicians, who in the main were 
opposed to Hastings. 

112. 9. Virgil's Third Eclogue: Virgil (70-19 b.c), one of 
the greatest of Roman poets, wrote, besides the Aeneid, and other 
works, various Eclogues — poems depicting ideal pastoral life. 

112. 16. Future votes; Questions: a diamond necklace 
represented money enough to buy many votes; and Mrs. Hastings' 
ear-rings, turned into cash, might silence many embarrassing 
questions. In other words, Warren Hastings had money enough 
to win his way and silence opposition, through corruption and 
bribery. 

113. 23. Burke, alienated from Fox: Burke and Fox acted 
in concert for many years, but at last they quarrelled over the 
French Revolution, which Fox favoured but which Burke opposed,, 
with almost fanatical zeal, in speeches of magnificent eloquence. 

114. 3. Las Casas (1474-1566): a Spanish Dominican friar, 
afterwards a bishop in South America, who crossed the Atlantic 
several times to plead with the Spanish court in behalf of the 
South American Indians. 

114. 4. Clarkson (1760-1846): a Quaker who worked with 
Wilberforce and Zachary Macaulay (Lord Macaulay's father) to 
abolish slavery. 

114. 9. Neither blood nor language: since Macaulay wrote 
this, science has proved that the people of India are members 
of the Indo-European family of races, and hence are really akin 
to most European nations in both blood and language. 

115. 7. Imaum: a Mahometan priest. 

115. 8. Mecca: the birthplace of Mahomet in Arabia; 
hence, sacred in the eyes of a Mahometan. 

115. 12. Yellow streaks of sect: the streaks painted on the 
forehead of a Brahmin. 

115. 18. Beaconsfield: a small town in Buckinghamshire 
where Burke had his country house; his London house was in 
St. James's Street. 

115, 26. Lord George Gordon's Riots: Parliament passed 



lyo NOTES 

an act abolishing the penal laws against Catholics. This alarmed 
some of the stricter Protestants; and, in 1780, many thousands 
of people marched to parliament, under the leadership of Lord 
George Gordon, a half-crazy fanatic, and demanded the repeal 
of the act. Rioting ensued which for six days terrorised the city. 
Dickens, in his Barnaby Rudge, makes fine use of this historical 
material. 

115. 27. Dr. Dodd: a clergyman executed in London, in 
1777, for forgery. 

116. 16. The Stamp Act: in 1765 Parliament passed an act 
requiring the American colonists to affix to certain documents a 
stamp which they had to buy from the British government.( 
This act was one of the causes of the American Revolution. 

116. 25. The Regency: when George III became insane in 
1788 a discussion arose in Parliament as to the appointment of 
a Regent. Pitt maintained that only Parliament could settle the 
matter; Fox held that the Prince of Wales was entitled to become 
Regent without the action of Parliament. The king, however, 
recovered; but, in 1810, he became hopelessly ill, and the Prince 
of Wales was made Regent in February, 181 1. 

116. 26. The French Revolution: for Burke's attitude and 
eloquence, see note, 113-23. 

119. 33. The Bath: an English order of knighthood. The 
king often confers this honour as a reward for services to the 
state. The badge is a jewelled cross of eight points. When the 
order was first instituted, it was the custom for candidates to 
be put into a bath on the evening preceding the ceremony. 
This act indicated a purification from their former misdeeds. 

120. I. The Privy Council: this council, which numbers 
about two hundred members, is chosen by the sovereign from 
among the princes of the blood, members of the present and past 
governments, archbishops, and other dignitaries. From among 
the members of the Privy Council is chosen the Cabinet. 

120. 7. Keeper of the Great Seal: the Lord Chancellor. 
The Great Seal is affixed to important state papers. 

120. 8. Patent of Peerage: a written paper conferring a 
title of nobiHty. 

121. 17. Mulct: a fine. 

122. 24. Works of supererogation: according to the doctrine 
j of the Roman Catholic church, these are good works done in 



NOTES 171 

excess of what actual duty requires. They may be accumulated 
in reserve, and so may serve to atone for one's shortcomings on 
other occasions. 

123. 15. Wilberforce, William (1759-1833): English philan- 
thropist, statesman, and orator; Member of Parliament for Hull, 
and the most eminent opponent of the slave trade. 

124. 27. Sheridan, Richard Brinsley (1751-1816): English 
dramatist, statesman, and orator. All the world knows his 
famous comedies, The School for Scandal and The Rivals, but in 
his time he was more famous as orator than as dramatist. 

125. 12. Windham (i 750-1810): an eminent Whig states- 
man, who followed Burke on the subject of the French Revolu- 
tion, and held ofi&ce under Pitt (see p. 131). 

127. 27. Strange characters: Macaulay here refers to the 
modern languages of India; but his statement is based on a mis- 
conception, since the characters of " Hindoostanee " are written, 
as are ours, from left to right. It is true that the Arian-Pali alpha- 
bet of the Sanscrit was written from right to left; but the modern 
languages of India are descended from the Indo-Pali alphabet, 
which was written from left to right. 

127. 29. Plantagenets : the family name of a line of kings of 
England from Henry II to Richard II (1154 to 1399). 

127. 33. The great hall of William Rufus: Westminster 
Hall, which adjoins the present Houses of Parliament, was begun 
by William Rufus (William II), destroyed by fire at the end of 
the thirteenth century, and restored by Edward II and Richard 
II. It is 68 feet wide, 92 feet high, and 290 feet long. In this 
noble and historic building sat some of the first English parlia- 
ments; here were crowned the kings of England up to George 
IV; here Charles I was tried and condemned; and here Cromwell 
was saluted as Lord Protector. 

128. 3. Bacon, Sir Francis (1561-1626): one of the most 
famous of Englishmen — philosopher, statesman, jurist, and. 
writer. He became Lord Chancellor of England, but was tried 
and sentenced for accepting bribes! 

128. 4. Somers (1661-1716): an English statesman and 
jurist of great ability, who played a large part in the Revolution 
of 1688. " He was impeached in 1701 on a charge of accepting 
exorbitant grants of land from the crown, but was acquitted." 

128. 5. Strafford (1593-1641): Thomas Wentworth, Earl of 



172 NOTES 

Strafford, the chief adviser of Charles I, was charged with high 
treason by the Long Parliament, and beheaded. 

128. 7. Charles: Charles I of England. 

128. 12. GarterKing-at Arms: the chief herald of the Order 
of the Garter, who is himself subservient to the authority of the 
Earl Marshal, the principal King-at-Arms in England. 

128. 20. Defence of Gibraltar: the siege lasted from 1779 
to 1783; but the principal attack was made in 1782. 

128. 22. The Duke of Norfolk: representative of the oldest 
English dukedom, in which the title of Earl Marshal is heredi- 
tary. 

128. 33. Brunswick: this house, called also the House of 
Hanover, still rules in England. 

129. 3. Siddons (i 755-1831): the most famous tragic actress 
of the English stage. 

129. 6. The historian of the Roman empire: Edward Gibbon 
(1737-1794), whose History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman 
Empire is probably the greatest of all histories, ancient or mod- 
ern. 

129. 7. Cicero (106-43 b.c): the most celebrated of Roman 
orators. Verres was the Roman governor of Sicily whom Cicero 
prosecuted. 

129. 9. Tacitus (55-117? A.D.): the greatest of Roman 
historians and also a celebrated orator. He was concerned in 
the trial of Marius Priscus, a Roman governor of Africa. 

129. II. The greatest painter of his age: Sir Joshua Rey- 
nolds (17 23-1 792), the most celebrated English painter of his 
time, and one of the world's greatest portrait painters. 

129. II. The greatest scholar of his age: Samuel Parr 
(i 747-1825) was, if not the greatest, certainly one of the two 
greatest classical scholars of his day — Richard Porson being the 
other. 

129. 21. Her to whom the heir of the throne had in secret 
plighted his faith: Mrs. Fitzherbert, who, in 1785, was privately 
married to the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV. 

129. 23. Saint Cecilia: Mrs. Sheridan, whom Reynolds 
painted in the character of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of 
music. 

129. 28. Mrs. Montague (1720-1800): an English authoress 
and leader of society (see note, 146-23). 



NOTES 



173 



129. 28. The ladies, whose lips had carried the Westminster 
election: Fox, when candidate for parliament in 1784, found 
canvassers among the women of high social position who were 
his friends. In the Westminster election, the Duchess of Devon- 
shire is even said to have gained a butcher's vote for Fox by brib- 
ing the voter with a kiss. 

130. 15. Mens aequa in arduis: a mind undisturbed by 
difficulties. 

130. 16. The great Proconsul: the governor of a Roman 
province. The term is here, with singular appropriateness, ap- 
plied to Hastings. 

130. 20. Chief Justice of the King's Bench; Chief Justice 
of the Common Pleas: two judges in the Court of Chancery, of 
which the Lord Chancellor is the head; next in rank is the Master 
of the Rolls. 

130. 24. Melville: Henry Dundas (see note, 20-5). 

131. 2. Bag: a part of fashionable dress for men at this 
time was a " bag " — a kind of silken purse tied to the hair. 

131. 6. Lord North: the statesman was indeed blind at this 
time, but, as he was only fifty-six years old, age surely had not 
unfitted him. 

131. 12. Athenian eloquence ; Demosthenes and Hyperides : 
about the middle of the fourth century B.C., Athens had many 
great orators, among whom were Demosthenes and Hyperides. 

131, 23, The youngest manager: Charles Grey, afterwards 
Earl Grey (i 764-1845), was only twenty-four years old at this 
time, but subsequently rose to great fame in parliament. He was 
Prime Minister at the time of the passing of the Reform Bill in 
1832, and to his debates on this bill Macaulay is alluding. Macau- 
lay himself took a conspicuous part in the debate in the House 
of Commons. 

132. 30. The stern and hostile Chancellor: Thurlow (see 
note, 1 10-17). 

134. 14. A knowledge of stage effect which his father might 
have envied: Sheridan's* father, Thomas, was a celebrated actor. 

135" 3- Crore: ten millions. 

135' 3- Aumil: a revenue collector. 

135. 3. Sunnud: a charter. 

135. 4. Perwannah: an official order. 

135' 4- Jaghire: the assignment of the government share of 



174 NOTES 

the produce of a section of land to an individual, either for his 
personal support or for that of an establishment. 
135. 4. Nuzzur: a present made to a superior. 

135. 24, States-Genef al : the representative assembly of 
France. After being in abeyance for nearly two centuries, it was 
summoned to meet in 1789. This marked the beginning of the 
French Revolution. 

136. I. Circuits: the circuit courts, or assizes, held by the 
judges throughout the country. 

140. 32. Cuddy: the word is here incorrectly used for 
" cabin." 

141. 24. Apotheosis: deification; the act of placing a person 
among the gods. 

141. 33. Pantheon: a temple dedicated to all the gods. 

142. 18. Logan, John (i 748-1 788): a Scotch clergyman, 
historian, and poet, whose " Ode to the Cuckoo " was pro- 
nounced by Burke " the most beautiful lyric in the language." 

142. 20. Simpkin's Letters: a humorous account in verse 
of the Hastings trial. 

142. 23. Anthony Pasquin: a Roman cobbler of the fifteenth 
century, who indulged in satirical remarks about his neighbours. 
After his death, an old statue near his shop was made the reposi- 
tory of all the epigrams and satirical verses of the city. These 
were hence called " Pasquinades." John Williams, a satirist 
and miscellaneous writer of this time, played the part of Pasquin 
in behalf of Hastings. 

143. 16. Board of Control: this board was appointed by 
Pitt's East India Bill in 1784 (see notes, 9-24; 20-4). 

144. 6. Coronet: he expected a peerage. 

144. 7. Red riband: the riband of the Order of the Bath, to 
which is attached the jewelled star. 

144. 19. Mr. Addington (175 7-1844): Prime Minister of 
England from 1801 to 1804. Addington was a weak premier, 
and came into power only through Pitt's defeat on the question 
of Catholic emancipation. On such a measure, so broad minded 
a statesman as Hastings would naturally have supported Pitt. 
But the terror caused by Napoleon's threatened invasion of Eng- 
land brought Pitt back to power. 

144. 22. Boulogne: Napoleon, intending an invasion of 
England, had collected an army and flotilla at Boulogne. 



NOTES 



175 



145. 12. AUipore: this place is on the Hugh, about twenty- 
five miles S. E. of Calcutta. 

145. 14. Leechee (Ktchi): a delicious Chinese fruit, also 
found in eastern India. 

145. 15, Covent Garden: chief market in London for fruits 
and flowers. 

145. 22. Bootan (Bhutan): this country lies largely in the 
Himalayas, between Thibet and British India. 

145. 30. Trissotin: a character in Moliere's comedy Les 
Femmes Savantes, who affected to combine with his regular 
duty the parts of the poet and the gallant. 

146. 19. Dionysius (c. 430-367): the Tyrant of Syracuse in 
Sicily; a successful general who dabbled in literature. 

146. 20. Frederic (17 12-1786): Frederick the Great of Prus- 
sia, although a genius as general and statesman, had his little 
weaknesses: he despised his own language and literature, and 
wrote books in French. 

146. 23. Blue-stockings: about 1750 in London, Mrs. Mon- 
tague (see notes 129-28) and other ladies began holding assem- 
blies in which literary conversation took the place of frivolous 
amusements, and which were marked also by a studied plainness 
of dress. Mr. Benjamin StiUingfieet always wore blue stockings, 
and in reference to him, this fashionable literary coterie was 
called in derision " the Blue-stocking Club," and the members, 
especially the ladies, " blue-stockings." Since then the term has 
been generally applied to literary ladies. 

146. 25. Hayley, William (1745-1820): a writer of verse 
and prose of little merit and now forgotten. 

146. 25. Seward, Anna (1747-1809): a poetess, called " the 
swan of Lichfield," of whom Sir Walter Scott wrote a biographical 
sketch. 

147. 23. Hats: members of the House of Commons wear 
their hats in the House, 

147. 28. Sheldonian Theatre: a large hall in Oxford where 
honorary degrees are conferred, commemorations are held, etc. 

148. I. Emperor of Russia: Alexander I visited England in 
1814. 

148. I. King of Prussia: Frederick William III. 
148. 3. Guildhall: the Council Hall of the City of Lon- 
don. 



176 NOTES 

148. 26. Great Abbey: Westminster Abbey, where are 
buried many of the greatest of England's dead. 

148. 28. Great Hall: Westminster Hall (see note, 127-33). 

149. 13. Richelieu (1585-1642): Cardinal Richelieu, one of 
the most able statesmen of history. 

149. 14. Cosmo I (1519-1574): Cosmo de' Medici, Grand 
Duke of Tuscany, a munificent patron of art and literature. 



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